Our Gentle Sin
by FreeNightFall28
Summary: Isabelle is a transfer from Erudite who decides to choose Dauntless during the choosing ceremony. In order to pass initiation, she must forget her old ways and embrace her new role as a true member of Dauntless, all while gaining the unwanted attention of one of the Dauntless leaders. Takes place a few years prior to the Divergent timeline. Eric/OC
1. Prologue

Prologue: _One Year before Divergent timeline_

Voices, as well as the sounds of metal clashing together, echoed through the room as men in black vests and matching pants hurried to finish the last preparations before the initiates were to arrive for their first day at the Dauntless. The men rushed over to the area of the room where there was a massive hole in the roof, the sunlight from above shining through and illuminating that part of the room.

A woman with dark brown hair tied up in a high ponytail stood with an electric data-pad in hand, using her free one to flip through the "pages" as she mentally went over everything that was to be done for the day. She was quite calm despite the chaos that continued around her; it was just another year of training the new slew of Dauntless initiates—her fourth year as a leader and her third as a trainer. However, Isabelle wasn't supposed to train this year, but for some reason the other trainer—Lauren—couldn't abide unbeknownst to the woman.

She turned to watch the men before glancing down at the onyx watch on her wrist. "The initiates will be here any moment now and the net isn't even set up yet! Let's go! Move it!" The woman watched with concerned eyes as the men hurried to finish setting up the room. She sighed heavily as her long fingers rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. This year the crew was running slow and the woman could feel her anxiety grow with each passing second that the net was not in place. She bit her lower lip anxiously at the thought of not being prepared by the time the initiates were to arrive, careful not to bite down on her lip piercing.

"Has the pressures of being a Dauntless leader and trainer finally caught up to the cool and collected Isabelle?" A voice called out to her.

The woman, Isabelle, turned to see a man with cropped, dark blonde hair, neck tattoos, and a piercing on his brow approach her, his struts seething with confidence—and arrogance. She rolled her eyes playfully at the other leader, "I haven't lost my cool yet, Eric," she eyed him cautiously, "sorry to disappoint you."

"It's still early in the day," he retorted as he finally stood in front of Isabelle, towering over her. She didn't notice, or at least she didn't let him on to notice. "I just received a call from our guys at the ceremony, the initiates have just boarded the train—they should be here in ten minutes."

"Have you word of how many there are this year?"

"Thirty-four all together, but I don't know how many are Dauntless born or transfers yet."

Isabelle nodded as she registered what he had said, "that's three more from last year. That could either be a good thing or a bad one."

Eric scoffed, turning is attention away from the brunette as he watched the men finally finish up setting the net in place, "Technically last year we had the same amount, but one initiate fell from the train and two others refused to take the jump… it all depends if they all make it this year or not."

Isabelle raised her arms up as she twisted her torso, cracking her back in the process. "To be completely honest I'd like for there to be a smaller amount of initiates—just once. I hate wasting all of this time and energy I put into training kids who don't even make it into the faction," she cocked an eyebrow at the man, "it's tedious."

"It's worse for those who were born into the faction yet cannot even sustain their status."

"I won't argue with you on that." Her hazel eyes glanced up into Eric's blue ones, glistening with curiosity, "Has Max decided if you are to train the initiates this year or is his mind still unsure on the matter?"

The man shook his head. "I just came from a brief meeting with him; I'll be training this year."

"Is that why you left so early this morning? You woke me up you know."

Eric couldn't help but smirk, remembering seeing her form shifting in bed earlier that morning so that their covers masked the light from her eyes as he got ready. "He wants me to train the Dauntless born with Karen, but he also wishes that I stop by the transfers every once in a while to ensure that they are being trained properly."

Isabelle scoffed, tearing her eyes away from the Dauntless leader in disbelief at his words. "I train the initiates just as well as you, just as well as the other instructors. I don't know why Max has little faith in me and my skills as a leader."

"I never said that he did," Eric said, defending Max, "you said it yourself earlier: we have more initiates this year than last, so Max wants me to ensure that they are all being trained with equal attention if needed." Eric was about to say something else when he froze in place suddenly. Isabelle watched as Eric touched the small earpiece in his left ear, turning his head away to fully concentrate on the voice on the other end. After a moment he touched it again before looking back at the woman. "The initiates are nearly here; it's about time I make it to the roof to welcome them from their journey. I'll be sure to send them down to you when I'm finished with them."

"Don't be too rough with them, Eric. We need at least a few to make it to me and Four or else I'll have nothing to do for the next couple of weeks." The smile she gave the other leader was cheeky, causing one side of his lips to curl up in an amused smirk.

"No promises." He crossed in front of Isabelle to pass her in order to make his exit. As he did so, one of Eric's hands gently brushed across Isabelle's clothed stomach, his fingers leaving a trail of warmth as he did so. The woman's smile only broadened, but she quickly tried to conceal it in hopes that he did not see. But he did, he always did.

"Until later," she called out over her shoulder only to hear him chuckle in response. Once he was gone, Isabelle made some last preparations, making sure the net was secure and things of the ilk.

Four entered the room, the sound of his shoes echoed and bounced against the walls as he strode over to the woman. "Is everything in place?"

"Yes. I just finished making sure everything was ready for our initiates when they arrived—which should be any moment now."

"Yeah, Eric informed me as we passed each other in the hall; he's headed up to the roof as we speak."

The sounds of the train coming down the tracks echoed through the room as well as making the building shake slightly as the massive amount of energy passing by at high speeds. The initiates have arrived. With the arrival of the train, a few other trainers had entered the room, all of them chatting amongst themselves, one of them being a friend of Isabelle—Mattie.

Isabelle was quiet for a moment as she turned to look at those who had entered, but her mind kept wandering to a seemingly important matter that was brought to her attention when she was asked to speak with Max a few days ago. "Hey Four, do you know why I was asked to step in for Lauren? Is she alright? There's nothing wrong, I hope."

"She was prepping for the initiates at the end of last week when she injured her leg, so she talked to Max and requested that you take her position to train the transfers with me. Why, is this a problem for you?" His tone was anything but harsh.

The woman shook her head, "just curious is all." She paused for a moment, wondering if it was right to tell him the reason behind her curiosity. She decided it didn't hurt to tell. "I was actually supposed to go to the Erudite compound in order to speak with some of the leaders there; we were going to discuss the problems that we've all been facing, but that got cut short since Max asked me to fill in for Lauren."

"You were supposed to go to Erudite?"

Isabelle nodded, "yeah, he wanted me to go since I was familiar with the area and the culture."

"He could've asked Eric."

"He could've, and he was thinking about it, but after much debate he figured I'd be the better choice since I'm a little less aggressive when it comes to formal communication and interactions."

Four smirked, "Max made the right choice on that one."

It wasn't long before both Four and Isabelle could hear the booming voice of Eric above. She turned her head to look at Four with an amused smile on her lips, laughing quietly to herself. He simply shook his head at the other leader's boldness.

"Who should take the lead this year, Four?"

"I did the talking last year" he replied wiping his eye with his thumb, "so you can have the honors this time."

Just as they finished discussing smaller details about the day, the first jumper had leaped from the rooftop, landing on the net and bouncing high into the air before he crashed back down. It was a boy with flaming red hair of fire with matching freckles on his young face and arms. Both Four and Isabelle pushed down on the net and the boy rolled off in a fluid motion.

"What's your name, initiate?" She asked as he stood on his feet, his blue eyes scanning the area around him before glancing up at the many heads that appeared from over the rooftop to stare down at him from above. "Come on, I don't have all day. You can choose a new name or keep the one you have, it doesn't matter to us."

"Ryan." The boy finally spoke. His voice wasn't as meek as Isabelle thought it would be.

"Welcome, Ryan!" Isabelle exclaimed loudly as the other trainers behind her replied by saying the same in unison. She pointed over at the other end of the room near the trainers, "just stand over there until the others have jumped." She turned to look at the red haired trainer, Karen, as she made note of the boy's name.

Ryan nodded as he did as instructed, standing a few feet away from the woman as another initiate jumped. One by one, the initiates jumped, some taking longer than others. A few of the youngling's changed their name, not that any of the Dauntless leaders knew, but it did make them feel a bit cooler in front of their peers and trainers. Once it seemed that the last of the initiates had jumped, Isabelle asked for Karen to count the names of those who had taken the leap.

"Thirty-four, ma'am."

The brunette nodded with a satisfied smile as she turned to face the initiates. "Welcome to Dauntless. I'm glad to see that every single initiate made the jump. It's not the first time, but it's still good news to hear none-the-less. Shows us that none of you are cowards…so far." The woman took a moment and allowed her eyes to scan the room at all the news faces, trying to get a sense of who they were at first glance. She saw a mixture of colors, letting her know that this year she had a mix of initiates from all factions.

Just as she examined the initiates, they did the same to her. She was the shortest leader there, standing at about five foot seven inches. The leader's ears were stretched as she had them pierced with black tappers, as well as having the cartilage on her left ear pierced. She also had a black stud on the skin underneath her bottom lip. Her long brunette hair was tied up in a high ponytail, exposing her neck. Wearing a black tank top, her shoulders and the upper portion of her chest were also visible and the initiates couldn't take their eyes off of the block-like tattoos that adorned her neck—the tattoos that all the leaders in Dauntless possessed. Each of Isabelle's wrists were also wrapped in a single black band. The dauntless born didn't seem to pay any particular attention to the leader as the transfers did; they were utterly stunned by the elegant, yet intimidating leader.

"Dauntless born go with Karen, Morgan, and Chandler while the rest of you _transfers_ stay with me. Off you go." The kids wearing black clothing followed the red-haired woman as she and the other trainers led the group away for their own orientation. Once they were gone, Isabelle turned back to the group of her own initiates.

"I've been a leader here at Dauntless for four years, but I am also a delegate for my people and I am sent to other factions regularly in order to discuss matters of security, as well as to help maintain the relationship we have with the other four factions. But for the next couple of weeks I will be an instructor during your training, alongside Four, Mattie, and Dionne. My name is Isabelle; you can call me that or if you prefer to use my nickname _Is, _that is also acceptable… or even ma'am if you're so inclined to do so; but I'm warning you right now: I will not be called Belle, Bella, or Izzy, so don't even think about referring to me by any of those names."

"Why?" one initiate asked. It was a girl with black hair. "What'll happen?"

"What's your name, initiate?"

"Clara."

"Step forward _Clara_." The initiate's name dripped from the instructor's name like venom.

The girl did as told. Isabelle sauntered over to the black haired beauty, noticing her now trembling form with each step that she took. Isabelle stood close to the girl, with only a few inches separating the two. Clara was shorter than the instructor by a few inches, so Isabelle took the opportunity to tower over her prey in hopes to intimidate her more that she already had. "Last year I had an initiate who had trouble understanding my simple request, a boy named Rocket. Long story short, we found his body at the bottom of the Chasm with no explanation to what happened to him." Isabelle's eyes glanced over the initiates before returning to Clara. "Does that answer your question?"

The girl nodded.

"Good," the instructor smirked, "now if you'll all follow me." Isabelle didn't even give the new initiates time to respond before she turned on her heel and started to make her way out of the room. The recruits followed as their leader lead them down a staircase illuminated by the red lights above with Four and the other two instructors following close behind. Out of the staircase, Isabelle then led the group down the stone corridors that were lined at the ceiling with wires and blue lights, although they did not give off much light in the dimness of the passages, the sounds of footsteps echoing through each hall.

As the group approached an area of open light, loud, ear-rattling music overwhelmed any other sounds that bounced off the stone walls of Dauntless, as did the sounds of people yelling, talking, and laughing in delight. The initiates all gathered by the edge of the pathway to overlook the scene as they watched a large group of people dancing towards the father end of the gigantic room while another, equally large, group of people stood in a circle as they watched two men who were engaged in a fist fight.

"This is the Pit, the center of life here at Dauntless. You'll find that when you have time to spare most of it will be spent here. Shops, bars, nightclubs, and the tattoo parlor can be found in some of the narrow passages here in the Pit; when you become a member of Dauntless you will receive a certain amount of points each month in which you can spend at said shops. Now if you'd continue to follow me, I'll take you to your living quarters."

After leading the group of kids down two other passages, Isabelle introduced them to the large room furnished with beds and a bathroom for all of them to use. Of course they were shocked to see that the girls _and_ boys had to share both the restrooms and the sleeping area, which was met to equal amounts of groans and whistling.

"That's enough," Isabelle roared over the bustle of the group, "if you're feeling uncomfortable about the situation, here's a tip: shower in your underwear—I know it's not that helpful, but it's better than showering completely nude. Now change into the clothes provided for you and wash up. Once you've all changed, you'll dump your old clothes into the furnace before making your way into the dining hall for dinner. After you get some food in your stomach, you are to report back here for a good nights sleep—we start training tomorrow at eight o'clock sharp. Understood?"

The group replied in unison. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good, now get going. I expect you all at dinner in less than five minutes. Let's go!"

While the initiates all shuffled to do as they were told, Isabelle turned to Four as they departed from the room, making their own way to the dining hall. The woman turned to face her colleague, "how'd I do?"

"I thought you were pretty efficient, especially with that bit with the black haired initiate."

Isabelle beamed with delight as they turned a corner, "right? I wanted to intimidate at least one of them before we got to the gritty part of training. Think it worked?"

"Like a charm," he replied.

The initiates made it to dinner on time, Isabelle noticed, taking seats wherever they could as they started to mingle amongst themselves. Four sat by himself at a table before a few newbies gained enough courage to sit at his table. Isabelle took a seat across from her friends at another table, Mattie and Nikki—a well-liked tattoo artist who worked alongside Tori at the parlor. The group sat and talked for a moment, filling their plates with food and their metal cups with drink as the Dauntless leader Max made an appearance to give his annual speech to the initiates, which received a roaring applause from all of Dauntless.

Isabelle started to eat when Eric came along, sitting besides the brunette woman as he took a cup and drank from it. The other two women were engaged in their own chat while Eric and Isabelle spoke to one another. Their private conversation was intimate as one leader would lean in close to the other as they whispered. Isabelle's hands found themselves on Eric's thigh to keep her steady while Eric's hand lingered by her waist as his fingers lightly grazed her sides. Their eyes never drifted away as they spoke, keeping all attention on each other. Some of the initiates noticed.

"They seem a little close, don't they?" a boy with curly blond hair inquired, taking a bite of his steak ferverously.

"Well it only makes sense that they are," a skinny girl with dark skin replied as she picked at her food.

"And why do you say that?" the boy asked.

"They were both Erudites before transferring into Dauntless. Eric trained Isabelle two years after he became a leader here, before he was ordered to train the Dauntless born when it came time for initiation."

The red-haired boy, Ryan, cocked an eyebrow at the girl who seemed to know a lot more than she let on. "How do you know that?"

"I'm originally an Erudite, too. My siblings Navea and Warsan were friends with Isabelle back before they took part in the choosing ceremony. My sister chose to stay with my family and remain an Erudite while Warsan decided to become Dauntless with Isabelle. When we visited my brother he told us about the leaders and how Eric was training them along with Four and some others."

The group of kids turned to look at the two former Erudites who continued to talk with each other. As if on cue, the brunette woman turned her attention away from the man before her to glance over at the initiates who immediately averted her stare from the female leader's burning eyes. As they ate their food, the kids could hear Isabelle laughing at her own table a few feet away.


	2. Chapter 1

_Five years earlier__…_

"Raise and shine, initiates!" Four's voice boomed through the living quarters. "I want you down at the Pit in two minutes."

Isabelle's eyes shot open as she sat up in her bed. She had almost forgotten where she was until her eyes scanned around the room to see the rows of other kids her age starting to wake up. Without thinking, she got out of her covers and slipped on the training uniform that was provided for her the night before. After getting ready in the bathroom, Isabelle tied her hair into a slightly loose bun as she met up with two other transfers that she had befriended the day before at dinner, Mattie and Nikki—both Candor transfers.

Mattie was pretty with her light brown hair styled in an angular bob cut with bangs that were cut straight across her forehead. Her green eyes illuminated under the florescent lights above and she stood an impressive six foot one, only an inch taller than Four himself. The other girl wasn't as tall, but was still two inches taller than Isabelle. Nikki had shoulder length strawberry blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. The light freckles on her nose and cheeks seemed to dance every time she smiled, which was a lot. Both of them had very light skin compared to Isabelle's olive toned complexion.

"What kind of bull is this… we don't even get breakfast?" Nikki asked as the trio sauntered down the corridor as they tried to remember which ones led to the Pit. All of them seemed so familiar, but they followed a transfer from Erudite with dark skin who seemed to know where he was going. Isabelle recognized him.

"They probably want to kick our ass first before they put some grub in our stomachs—you know, make us earn it." Mattie responded as she pushed some hair out of her face.

Isabelle furrowed her brows, "they wouldn't do that to us. I mean, Dauntless are intimidating during initiation, but they aren't _mean_. Right?"

"They have do have to separate the weak from the strong."

"Mattie's right," Nikki agreed, "they'll be evaluating us on every single thing we do for the next couple of weeks. Nothing is off limits."

"Yeah, and I heard that there was a rule change," Mattie added as they turned a corner.

"What do you mean?"

"I heard that the Dauntless made a new rule. I overheard two leaders discussing the fact that if you don't make the cut, they're kicking you out."

"From Dauntless?" Isabelle asked.

Mattie nodded, "yeah. If you don't make the cut, you become factionless."

Nikki squealed in horror. "No! They would tell us if they changed the rule to something that extreme. Wouldn't they?"

"Dauntless is just trying this rule out right now, but there's word that they want all the factions to do the same. You know, weed out those who don't belong."

Isabelle shook her head, her mind racing with all of the information Mattie was supplying her with. "I don't think it has anything to do with seeing who belongs in the faction and who doesn't. According to our laws, this new rule is just in the beta phase of testing, and can remain in that phase for years before becoming official. Dauntless is simply trying this rule out in a trial-and-error fashion to see if it's of any benefit. There's a certain quota that each faction must meet, so this rule change may help them reach it; it's just a matter of statistics."

Both Mattie and Nikki looked at each other, their eyes wide and brows arched in surprise at the words that gushed from Isabelle's mouth. Then there was a burst of laughter as Mattie grabbed hold of Nikki's arm, trying her best not to fall over. The brunette huffed and watched with furrowed brows as the two former Candors struggled to breath after having their little giggle fit.

"Wow, Is," Nikki exhaled as she wiped a stray tear from her eye, "you actually sounded like an Erudite for a moment. _According to our laws,_" she teased lightly as she started to laugh again.

"_It__'__s just a matter of statistics_," Mattie chaffed playfully, tugging at Isabelle's jacket, causing the other girl to smile in amusement with her new friends and their lively jests.

"Oh shut it," Isabelle laughed.

The trio grew silent as they finally entered the Pit. It was much quieter than the night before, there was no music or fighting going on as well, since the only people that lingered in the large space were initiates and instructors. There were other members of Dauntless there as well, but they stood on the ledges that overlooked the Pit to watch the initiates start their training. Isabelle and her two friends learned later on that it was a tradition in Dauntless to watch the initiates on the first day, but only some had the luxury of actually having time to enjoy the spectacle.

Four was pacing around as he mentally went through what he was going to say and what was to be done for the day. Isabelle saw that he was joined by Eric, the first leader that they had all met the other day when they had to complete their first task in order to make it _into_ the Dauntless compound, quite literally. Eric, at this time in his life, had not yet acquired his arm tattoos. As Isabelle and her friends made their way into the small crowd of their fellow initiates, she found herself staring at the leader with the eyebrow piercing and neck tattoos—the tattoos that all the leaders in Dauntless had—she couldn't help but notice that both his name and his face seemed so familiar to her, but Isabelle couldn't place it.

The last of the initiates arrived just in time as Four did not hesitate to begin. "There are three stages of training. The first is physical—we _will_ push you until your body cannot take it anymore and you will learn and master the art of combat. The second is mental and if you think that the we won't try to break you, you are wrong. You will eventually face your fears and learn to conquer them, that is if you can handle it. The final stage is the mental stage in which you will have to prove yourself worthy of being called Dauntless. You will be trained separately from the Dauntless born but you will be ranked together. After initiation, the ranking you get will determine what job you will be assigned to which include but are not limited to leadership, guarding the fence, member of the city's security department, tattoo artist, entertainment, or weapon's maker. If you do not make it into the top five of your class you will most likely end up a guard."

"The rankings," Eric chimed in nonchalantly from his seat on a block of stone, "will also determine who gets cut."

Isabelle shot a glance over to her two friends who were looking in her direction as well, afraid of what was going to come out of the leader's mouths next.

"Sir?" a small boy with dark eyes said.

Eric smirked as he stood from his seat, striding over towards the initiates. "At the end of each stage, the lowest ranking initiates will be leaving us."

"How many people are getting cut?"

"This year there are thirty-two initiates, including both Dauntless born and transfers. Usually we only accept ten of you, but this year we are increasing the number to fifteen due to a significantly large decrease in our task force. So the magic number is seventeen—six cut in the first two stages and five cut in the final stage." Eric said with a sly grin on his lips, mischievousness glistening in his sparkling blue eyes. The color reminded Isabelle of the Erudite's faction color—a color she was all too familiar with.

"If we're cut," the same boy inquired, "what would we do?"

"Well, you can't really go back to your families since you left them to join us… so you'd be factionless."

Once again Isabelle looked over at her friends as some of the initiates started to ask questions— why weren't they told, when was this rule made, who decided this… questions of that sort. Mattie gave her brunette friend a sympathetic _I-told-you-so_ look before they returned their attention to their instructors as Four settled everyone down.

"Why, does it matter?" Eric asked as he cocked his pierced brow. "Is the fear of possibly being cut causing you to second guess your decision on choosing Dauntless? If it is, then all I have to say is that you don't belong here. End of discussion."

"But that's not up to us," Four reassured, glaring at Eric. "It all depends on how badly you want to be here." He paused for a moment to look down at his watch. "All right initiates, time for a jog. I want you all to run to the training facility and do as many laps as you can inside. The last three people to run the most laps will be receiving the highest amounts of points. How many points you get depends on how many laps you complete. The first seven to give up will receive floor washing duties for a week and the lowest score possible—also depending on how many laps you complete. Am I clear, initiates?" Four roared.

"Yes, sir!" The group responded in unison as they moved together, one giant mob making their way towards the warehouse-like building where their training was to take place.

The first five laps were fine, Isabelle noted. It didn't seem like much of a challenged when Four requested it, but after she hit her eighth lap, Isabelle was dreading this entire task altogether. Nikki and Mattie ran by her side; they both seemed to be doing better than her, especially Nikki who didn't even appear winded by the assignment; Isabelle couldn't even see her sweat while she felt like she was sweating buckets. That didn't stop Isabelle from keeping up with her Candor counterparts.

As the girls hit their tenth lap, the first three people had given up. The trio decided that it wasn't the end of the world if they didn't end up making the top three, but they were trying their best not to be the first seven to give up. Sticking together and making it through to the end of initiation without falling behind in the rankings was at the top of their priorities.

The girls ran at a slower, but steadier pace than some of the other initiates which was the main reason why their numbers started to dwindle with every lap that they made while the trio remained pretty constant throughout their run. Even though they were running at an unhurried pace, the girls had managed to keep their breathing under control though Isabelle seemed to have a harder time than her friends.

Two more people stopped when the girls had finished their twelfth lap. Only two more people to kick it and then Isabelle couldn't care less if she were to pass out from the fatigue. It was the thought of having the lowest possible score on the first day that was driving her to continue her laps.

"Pick up the pace girls," Four's voice boomed from the observation deck just above them. "You know who I'm talking about."

Mattie glared up at their instructor as the trio did as they were told, increasing their speed. Isabelle cursed in her head as she wiped the sweat from her brows and above her lip, wiping it on her pant leg. If they were to have kept the original pace that they were running at, Isabelle would've guaranteed that she wouldn't be in the first seven to give up, but now that Four had ruined her plan, she was started to doubt her endurance.

Her heart was pounding like rabid drums inside of her chest as her lungs burned from lack of oxygen. Her legs felt unsteady with each step she took, afraid that at any moment her knees would give out from underneath her, hindering her ability to get up once she had stopped her momentum. As long as she continued to run, even at a slower pace than her friends, she knew she wouldn't give in to the desire to just quit while she was ahead. If she were to stop, Isabelle knew it'd all be over.

Mattie and Nikki started to run a bit faster than Isabelle had wanted, so she allowed them to take the lead in front of her, falling just slightly behind them. One more initiates had given up, the boy who spoke up earlier that morning, leaving only one more person to surrender to the fatigue and exhaustion of the excessive running that the initiates had to endure.

As if on cue, Isabelle lost her balance due to exhaustion and fell face first onto the hard cement floor. Mattie and Nikki didn't even notice as they continued to run, but Isabelle's fall had caught the attention of both leaders above. The room seemed to be spinning around as Isabelle looked up, her equilibrium completely lost for a few moments as she blinked profusely, trying to figure out what had happened. In a confused daze, the girl looked up to see both Eric and Four staring down at her and mumbling to each other.

"That looked like it hurt," Eric taunted, "what's the matter initiate, can't get up?"

Isabelle thought for a second before she answered, "I can, sir."

"Then do it. Unless you want to wash the floors…"

Isabelle took a deep breath as she tried to regain herself, closing her eyes in concentration on the task at hand as she tried to get up, but she found it hard to do so as her mind was still racing; her head now throbbed in confusion from the fall.

Eric sighed loud enough for the girl to hear down on the floor. "If you're not up by the count of three you are automatically done, initiate. One…"

The brunette groaned—this was a bad way to start off training.

"Two…"

It took Isabelle all of her strength to pushed herself off of the floor, groggily getting to her feet. She took another deep breath as she forced her legs to move, starting off in a light jog before continuing the pace she had before her unfortunate fall. Mattie and Nikki had managed to overlap Isabelle, but slowed down a bit as they caught up to her.

"Oh god, Is you're bleeding!" Nikki exclaimed as she pointed to Isabelle's forehead.

Isabelle gently touched the skin and felt hot liquid cover the tips of her fingers. Pulling them away, she saw that her fingers had been stained in red. Isabelle didn't even remember being cut.

"Are you alright? We didn't know you went down until Eric opened his big mouth," Mattie stated, panting slightly, finally showing signs of fatigue.

Nodding at her friend, she thought it was best to just try and focus on the running as she wiped her head with the sleeve of her training jacket. She kept pressure on the cut until it eventually stopped. The girl's managed another three laps before the last person finally gave up on running.

Smiling gratefully, Isabelle did one more lap before she decided that enough was enough. As soon as she was done, Four called out to her and commanded that she go to the infirmary to have the cut on her forehead checked up on before heading to breakfast. Nodding fervently, Isabelle wasted no time making her way into the infirmary while her friends continued to run.


	3. Chapter 2

The pain from the injury on her forehead had increased tenfold as Isabelle reached the infirmary, but the bleeding had mostly stopped which relieved the girl to an extent. After having the nurse there administer medication to ease Isabelle's throbbing head, she cleaned and stitched up the cut before the girl thanked the nurse and made her way to the dining hall to grab some breakfast; it wasn't going to be long before the initiates were to continue their training for the morning.

When Isabelle sat down at the table, she noticed that Mattie and Nikki were enjoying their food with three other people as they laughed at someone Mattie had said; they sat with a girl and two boys—one of whom was familiar to Isabelle. The one boy, Warsan, was a kid Isabelle had grown up with back in Erudite along with his sister who decided to stay with their family. He had dark skin that reminded Isabelle of rust, and thick, curly black hair that matched the color of his eyes. The other boy was much fairer in complexion compared to the former Erudite as his skin was almost as pale as alabaster. He had sparkling green eyes and thin lips that often found themselves curled upwards in a cat-like grin. The girl who sat next to the pale boy had similar features to him, only her eyes were a deep sapphire hue—a color that reminded Isabelle of the ocean.

"Want to introduce me to your new friends?" Isabelle asked as she started to fill her plate with food.

Mattie waved off the dark-skinned boy, "You know Warsan already, so I won't bother with him." Isabelle waved at him while Mattie then pointed to the girl, "this is Kathryn and her twin brother Robbie. They're both Dauntless born."

"Breaking bread with the enemy I see?" Isabelle grinned as she extended a hand to the twins, "I'm just kidding, it's nice to meet you. I'm Isabelle."

"Don't worry about it," Robbie said with a laugh as he shook her hand firmly, "the pleasure's ours."

Kathryn leaned in close to Isabelle, "Your buddies over here were tellin' us about your first task from Four. I also heard you face-planted the cement while doing laps in front of the leaders. That's a good way to get them to notice you, huh?" She laughed.

"Don't be rude!" Robbie snapped at her.

"I'm just being playful, chill out." Kathryn turned back to Isabelle, "You know I'm just messin', right?" Isabelle nodded. "See? She knows. At least you didn't finish with those first seven, yeah?"

Isabelle smiled, "I'm _extremely_ happy that I didn't end up with the lowest scores." She glanced up at her fellow transfers, "how did you guys fare?"

"Warsan got first!" Nikki boasted, nudging him with her elbow. "The boy's a natural runner—didn't even break a sweat during the entire thing."

"Congratulations, Warsan. I bet Four and Eric were impressed."

"Thanks, but now they're gonna have an eye out for me; I have to continue being good or else I'll drop in the rankings."

"How about you, Nikki?"

"I got in the top three with the third spot!" She beamed, her entire face glowing in a confident radiance as she took a sip of water from her cup.

"I'm not surprised," Isabelle restarted, "you looked just as good as Warsan. Congrats, though. And you Mattie? Wait, let me guess: you got in the top two?" She joked, cracking a smile over at the tall girl.

"No smartass," she jeered with a grin, "I just missed being in the top three, but my feet couldn't take it anymore, so I got the fourth spot."

The brunette woman couldn't help but sigh with a nervous laugh, "Shit, I need to step my game up if I don't want to become factionless, huh? You all mean some serious business don't you?"

Mattie stuffed her face with some muffins she grabbed from the platter in front of Warsan. "You're safe for now, Is, don't worry. Besides, it's still early in training so you can make up for it. We're learning combat techniques after breakfast and we'll be having our first matches at the end of the week, so you can move up then. All you have to do is pay attention and show Four and the others that you want to be here."

"I guess you're right," Isabelle sighed, picking at her own muffin. She glanced over at the twins besides her with curiosity in her hazel eyes. "What did your leaders make you two do this morning?"

"We started right away with combat." It was the grin on Kathryn's face that made the transfer's stomachs drop, "Our leaders, Ashur and Imani made us do mock matches—you know, to get an idea of where we are right now—and I kicked ass. Got spot numero uno, baby! I'm a force to be reckoned with!" The blonde girl brimmed with excitement and adrenaline, punching the air with her bruised up fists.

Nikki laughed at the Dauntless-born's flamboyance. "I'm sure you are, Kathryn."

Warsan wagged his finger at the twins as he tried to chew and swallow his food quickly. Honestly, Mattie though the boy was going to choke on his breakfast. "Don't forget that even though you're doing well right now in your own training, eventually we'll be ranked together; even if you're the top of your group you might end up being ninth in the long-run."

The Dauntless boy dropped the bagel in his hand onto the plate below, giving the other male a displeased look that was slightly exaggerated. "Way to be a kill-joy, Warsan. Let the lady have her moment—her ranking won't last for long anyway."

Kathryn scoffed at her brother, "what, like you're gonna out-rank me? _Please_."

Robbie smirked slyly at his sister. "That sounds like a bet."

"You really wanna do this, Rob? In front of our new friends?"

"How else are we gonna entertain ourselves during this time of torture and torment? Why, are you afraid I'll steal your thunder?"

"Hardly, you finished fifth in the mock matches. I'll wipe your ass all over the scoreboard."

Nikki leaned into Mattie, but they all kept their eyes on the bickering duo who continued to be at each other's throats. "I betcha Robbie will beat out his sister."

"Are you crazy?" Warsan asked, interjecting into the girl's affairs. "Kathryn's got this in the bag."

"No way, Warsan." Nikki barked, waving the boy off.

"_You _wanna bet on it?" He snapped. His dark eyes brimmed with fire.

"Yeah, let's do it. I wager a month's worth of cake on Robbie."

Warsan contemplated what the girl was putting at stake. "That's a lot of cake, Nikki…but you're on; I bet on Kathryn."

Mattie pointed at the dark-skinned boy. "I'm with Warsan on this one; Kathryn's gonna take it all."

"How about you, Isabelle? Want to place a bet?"

The brunette thought for a moment, wondering which of the two would be the best bet to make; like Warsan said, it was a lot of cake to wager. To other people, they would think was strange that betting for cake on a wager, but they had never experienced the gift that was Dauntless' chocolate cake. "I'll go with Robbie. The boy's got spunk."

Robbie, catching the jest of what was going on, turned to the girls with a grin on his handsome face. "Any chance I can bet on myself?"

"No," his sister nearly shouted, hitting her brother on the arm. It was just then her eyes glistened mischievous, "but how about we bet on the transfers? There's four of them and two of us, so we'll make it even and bet on two each. It'll be the same deal, a month's worth of Dauntless cake."

"Fine. Who wants to take first pick?"

Kathryn grinned mischievously as her blue eyes sparkled with delight, "since I feel sorry for you, I'll let you choose first."

"Alrighty then, I'll return the favor and choose Nikki and Isabelle for having faith in me."

"That leaves me with Mattie and Warsan. And it appears we are evenly matched in our choices… isn't it exciting?"

The group of newly formed friends laughed and continued to talk as they finished up their breakfast. Isabelle remained silent, however, feeling a bit worried about training that was to take place over the next couple of days. She was the shortest compared to her friends, but not particularly the smallest; she felt that her thicker thighs would prove to be a disadvantage when it came to stealth and agility, but might come in handy in strength. Warsan was lithe, but wiry with much brawn hidden behind his small demeanor; both he and Nikki shared a subtle athleticism that would prove helpful during the first stage of training. Mattie was tall and headstrong—a natural contender as she would not back down or surrender when she was to fight.

The brunette knew that the first stage would be hard and she'd need to put a lot of effort and dedication into her training, but now there was the added pressure of possibly becoming factionless. Isabelle couldn't help but feel a creeping notion of dread start to course through her entire being, especially because she was up against Dauntless borns as well as the other transfers. The ones that had not transferred out to the other factions, the ones who remained like Robbie and Kathryn, grew up with this culture and knew what was expected of them—they had a better chance of making it through initiation than the transfers did; they were favored by the leaders over their transfer counterparts.

The more she sat and thought about it, the more Isabelle started to doubt her decision about Dauntless. The aptitude test said that Dauntless was the best choice suited for her, but was it possible that the test was wrong? The technicians handling the test would've known if something was wrong, if the test had failed or interpreted the results falsely, wouldn't they?

After breakfast was over the four transfers said goodbye to their new friends before departing from the dining hall, making their way back to the building to continue on with their training. Isabelle remained silent as the other four talked, the excitement was almost tangible in the air by all the other transfers. The only exception was Isabelle.

Four and Eric were talking to each other by a few large mats that were set up near the middle of the room, discussing what techniques to show the newbies on the first day of combat training. As they continued to talk, Isabelle hadn't noticed that she was staring at the tall blond with the eyebrow piercing. It was the gnawing feeling of having seen him before that was driving her crazy. She had been an Erudite all her life up to the past two days, and he was one once too, but she couldn't remember for the life of her how Eric seemed so familiar. There was something about the structure of his face, his high cheekbones, and the intense color of his blue-green eyes, the ones that seemed to always be bearing into one's soul if you were to look upon them.

After a few moments, the blond leader nodded finally looking up from the ground. His eyes caught a sight of Isabelle watching him, but she quickly looked away and acted as if she were paying attention to her friend's conversation while she felt her cheeks warm up. She had to admit, Eric was quite handsome; all the girls thought so to a certain degree, but many favored Four as he wasn't nearly as cold or ruthless as the blond. Being so young, of barely seventeen, and of being from a faction that valued intelligence, Isabelle was not accustomed to finding attraction towards another.

"Alright initiates listen up," it was Four who spoke, addressing the crowd, "Eric and I will be demonstrating some combat techniques that will prove helpful when you start practicing for the matches. Remember, the first of the matches will be held at the end of the week, so pay attention."

Eric straightened up, his face was hard and his voice mirrored his expression. "Opponents will never be random—each person is picked for a specific reason and the points for each match will vary. And as I've said before, the six initiates with the lowest ranking will be leaving Dauntless—permanently."

And with that, Four called out a transfer from Amity to demonstrate techniques on. Both Four and Eric showed a variety of moves, ways to punch, kick, and block. They also talked about the body's weak points and the most effective place to land an attack with the strongest parts of the body like the elbow. As the Dauntless trainers demonstrated the different styles and techniques, the poor Amity transfer was thrown to the ground, punched, and kicked.

After the demonstrations were over, the leaders allowed for the initiates to practice what they had learned on each other and the punching bags that lined one side of the room. The group of kids scattered quickly as they were all eager to start their training, half of them going to the punching bags like Isabelle and Mattie, while the others stayed by the mats in order to practice with each other like Nikki and Warsan.

Practice was long and it was hard. Four and Eric saw it upon themselves, as well as some of the other trainers, to walk among the initiates and examine their stances, their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their determination to master the techniques shown. Nikki and Warsan stood at the mats as they performed the locked-wrists exercise, seeing how fast they could touch the back of their wrists with their partners without missing their target or messing up.

Isabelle stood in front of her punching bag and continued to hit the center of it while Mattie did the same. Isabelle twisted her body as she landed punches, alternating between hands to do so. Mattie stood with a little more control as she only twisted the upper part of her torso to punch. Eric saw this and made his way over to the girls.

"Your technique is wrong, initiate," he said bluntly as he stood beside Isabelle.

"Isabelle," she responded as she continued to punch, deciding to look at him.

"Excuse me?"

"My name—it's Isabelle, not initiate."

Eric cocked a brow at the girl as he took a step closer to her, nearly leaving no space between them as he towered over her menacingly. "I don't care what your name is, your technique is still _wrong_. Look over at your friend. See how her feet are planted while she only moves her torso a quarter of the way in order to control the range of her punch? That's how you're supposed to do it; you're sloppy."

Isabelle inhaled deeply as she glanced over at Mattie to study her form while Eric took a step back. After notching the differences between her friend's stance and her own, Isabelle adjusted herself and tried punching again.

"Your feet," Eric announced.

"They're planted." She defended.

"They are, but they are also too far apart." He stood just behind her so that his foot could be stationed besides hers before he pushed it so that her feet were now shoulder width apart. "If your feet are too close together or too far apart it will be easy for your opponent to knock you over. With your feet like this, it'll be easier for you to maintain your balance. Try again."

She did as instructed and continued only to be stopped by Eric once more.

"Do you listen?" He barked, making the brunette flinch slightly at his tone of voice. "You are only to move your torso a quarter of the way, not halfway. If you continue to fight like how you've been practicing then your opponent can easily overtake you." This time Eric stood behind the girl fully, his hands found themselves on her waist, causing Isabelle to inhale sharply as another blush arose on her cheeks. He didn't seem to notice as he guided her to move her torso one-third of the way as she mimicked the action of punching the bag. After demonstrating on Isabelle a few times, he took a step back. "Again."

Finally, she had mastered this simple aspect of her training which granted her much relief. She had not wanted Eric to linger by her side any longer than need be. When he was content with her improvement, Eric left to attend the other initiates.

Mattie took a quick glance over at her brunette friend who was hitting the punching bag vigorously, not wanting the blond to return. The taller woman's eyes burned into her friend's as a smirk laced her lips. Isabelle noticed.

"What?" the smaller girl asked, her fists never faulting from the bag.

"Twice in one day you earn Eric's attention, will you do it again after lunch?"

"Shut up," Isabelle scoffed quite harshly. "Its attention that I don't want. I'd rather ghost through initiation with a passing rank and nothing more."

"But some attention is good, no? You want them to notice you."

"Only when I'm proving myself beyond their expectation, not when I fall flat on my face or when I'm practicing wrong."

Mattie paused for a moment, deciding to choose her words wisely before speaking. "I also noticed how your cheeks reddened when Eric laid his hands on you."

"Stop it, now." This time Isabelle's tone wasn't as severe as before as she allowed herself to smile slightly. "All the girls here would do so if they were in my place; I am not so special."

Mattie couldn't help but laugh. "You got me there, but I would rather have Four's hands all over me."

A boy who was stationed besides Isabelle chuckled quite forcefully, gaining the attention of both girls. They turned to see look upon him, the boy from Amity with black hair and dark eyes, but he was nothing like the people there. "You got me there as well, Isabelle." The way her name rolled of his tongue caused the girl to grimace.

"How so…Avicus, was it?" Acting as if she didn't know. She knew how easily boy's egos were shattered.

The boy, Avicus, kicked and punched at the bag before him for a moment, seeing that his own actions were of priority over the girl's curiosity. "You said it yourself: you are not so special. Someone of Eric's status and authority would not degrade himself to someone so low as you. You're not particularly pretty."

Isabelle huffed as she stopped her own practice to turn and fully face the dark-haired boy. "I admit that I am more-or-less average looking and I accept that; it's true, I am not _particularly pretty_, so your words do nothing to me. But you say that I am _low?_" Her voice seeped with venom, her brows furrowed angrily. "Am I? That's rich coming from an Amity like you."

Avicus stopped his practice as well as he turned to face her, finding offense in her words. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh?" She breathed out as if he didn't know. "The people of Amity are held in regard just barely above those from Abnegation. That's not much of an improvement since the people of Dauntless and Erudite still mock your people's ways."

Avicus pushed the brunette girl hard enough that she stumbled onto the ground while the two leaders took note of the incident.

"Is there a problem, initiates?" It was Four who spoke out, his voice echoing through the facility.

Avicus' nostrils flared, but remained calm as he felt the eyes of the leaders bear upon him while Isabelle got up, brushing herself off. "None, sir. It was just a small disagreement."

"Well, then I think its time for a break. In ten minutes return here to complete the day's training. And make note that points are to be docked from both Avicus and Isabelle; we have no tolerance for such behavior among initiates outside of the matches."

And with that, the initiates ceased their practice and went to mingle amongst themselves as they sought water to quench their thirst and to rest. Nikki and Warsan came running over to the other two girls as Avicus stormed off.

"What was that all about?" the blonde girl asked.

"It seems Isabelle is making new friends of her own." Mattie replied, a sly grin on her pretty face.

The brunette shook her head, her eyes never leaving Avicus as he left the facility for fresh air. "Stay away from that one," she forewarned, "something tells me he is no friend." Isabelle eyes wandered over towards the leaders and found herself once again at the attention of Eric.


	4. Chapter 3

The week was filled with vigorous training. Besides combat, the initiates ran in the morning with Four all around the Dauntless compound. They also learned how to use firearms as well as how to properly wield knives. Isabelle found that she was better with knife and with gun than she was with her fists alone.

With target practice, she was able to use her knowledge of physics and statistics to her advantage as she calculated the best way to hit the bullseye—and that she did. Besides Warsan, Isabelle proved to be the best at knives and nearly third when handling a gun, improving her rank tenfold; her two other friends did not fall far behind. Avicus too was quite good in his own way, but not nearly as good as the four who stuck together.

Eric had noticed Isabelle's technique, however, and warned her not to rely on her old factions ways, her people's ways. She was Dauntless now, for the time being, and she had to embrace her new factions way of life. It was faction before blood. _Always._

There was one girl, a small and thin child of Abnegation named Mia, who did not seem to find her niche in any of the physical aspects of training. This caused concern for Isabelle, fearing the worst for the former Abnegation. She fought poorly, handled her gun with little accuracy, and her knife throwing lacked precision. Isabelle couldn't help but wonder how the girl even tested for Dauntless, but she found it harder to believe that this meek and seemingly powerless girl gained the courage to choose Dauntless over her own faction. Warsan warned the brunette not to worry herself with the girl—she was just one among seventeen destined to leave; she was destined to end up factionless.

As noted by character, Avicus mocked Mia and told her what all others were thinking to her face—that she would not make it to the second stage of initiation. He openly taunted Mia whenever he could, but especially so when she sat to eat in the dining hall. It was one thing to think such things of others, but to take away all sources of hope, of self-esteem in front of one's peers, that was another thing all together; that was downright disgusting and disgraceful.

It amazed Isabelle how quickly ill-feelings towards the former Amity had spread amongst her friends. The same attitude was felt with Kathryn and Robbie when they were told of the boy's antics and behaviors. Kathryn suggested to subject him to such humiliation by defeating him in the matches that were to be held soon for the transfers—and to do so in front of the leaders. That would be their greatest revenge towards the heartless Amity without starting trouble and losing points themselves.

Isabelle couldn't agree more. They were supposed to be Dauntless—courageous and strong—and picking on a girl weaker than oneself was neither of the two, in fact it was the opposite. She would see to it that Avicus faced defeat during combat. Nothing would make her happier than to see that boy fall from his own mighty pedestal.

The rankings had finally been listed for all to see just before the transfers were to fight for the first time for points, to show either their progression or their decline. Showing the rankings before the matches was to serve inspiration to those who needed it. Although all the names behind the fifteenth initiate were of those who were beneath the cutoff, the ones bolded were those who faced elimination from the first stage go initiation.

_1. Kathryn 2. Robbie 3. Virgil 4. Alexandria 5. Warsan 6. Vikki_

_7. JD 8. Nicole 9. Aliyah 10. Sido 11. Nikki 12. Artemis 13. Morgan _

_14. Mattie 15. Mark 16. Durro 17. Jordan 18. Isabelle 19. Avicus_

_20. Shelby 21. Flot 22. Danielle 23. Anne 24. Axel 25. Levy_

_26. Bruce __**27. Maxine 28. Jay 29. Mia 30. Abigail 31. Aldo 32. Connor**_

Isabelle sighed in relief when she saw that she was safe at the moment, although she was quite lower on the list than she would've liked. She thought for sure she'd secure the top fifteen at least. She needed to improve her skills to move up in the ranks fast or else she'd get cut from Dauntless. But what irked her even more was to see that Avicus was just one rank below her.

"It seems that Mia is not as low as I would've expected." Warsan said as his eyes examined every inch of the board.

"But she is still in the bottom six; if she doesn't improve during the upcoming matches she will not make it to the next stage."

The dark-skinned boy glanced over at his friend, placing a hand on her shoulder as he squeezed it lightly. "Like I said before, don't worry so much about her. I'd focus more of my attention to your own rank. You're still under the cut-off line."

The brunette nodded, agreeing completely with her friend sadly as she looked at the ground, shuffling her feet. "I know. I just have to win my matches."

"I'd rather worry about Avicus moving ahead of you." He jested, causing the girl to cringe.

"Don't, please. Just the mere though of him and I being so close in the rankings has made me irritable."

"As it does to the rest of us," Mattie exclaimed as she moved closer to the two former Erudites, along with Nikki at her side.

Eric and Four came into view and they stood at the front of the scoreboard, their eyes scanning the group of initiates who stood before them. Four looked down at his clipboard while Eric straightened up.

"Attention!" It was the blond who spoke, "there are sixteen of you, so before lunch we'll complete four matches and when we come back the remaining four matches will resume. Our first match of the day is between Mia and Virgil. Both of you get ready and head towards the ring."

The other initiates made their way to the arena as well, eager to see how the first match would fare. Eric and Four took their sweet time as they strolled over to the ring in order to examine the opponents who already stood in the arena.

"How cruel is that?" Nikki asked as she leaned into Isabelle, her voice barely above a whisper, "They are purposely pairing up one of the worst initiates with the best in our group. I knew Eric was cruel, but this is downright humiliating—for the both of them."

Isabelle raised a brow as she watched the fragile girl prepare herself for the match. "If Mia is to beat Virgil, her ranking will improve immensely."

"You believe the girl will best Virgil?" Mattie asked, joining in on the conversation.

Isabelle shook her head. "No, but anything is possible."

Despite Isabelle's words, this was not possible. Mia was defeated in under two minutes. The poor girl didn't stand a chance against the boy; he was tall and lean with fine muscles that had caused great damage to the weak girl. The fight was almost pathetic as Mia was barely able to land a single punch at her opponent. She did draw blood, but it was a pure accident as Virgil had lost his balance for a moment while she punched him in the nose. He didn't take that very well as he threw her to the ground, her bones seeming to crack at the sudden assault. He wailed on her mercilessly, blood staining his knuckles as he continued to punch her everywhere he could. It was then she asked to concede before she was escorted to the infirmary by two other trainers.

Eric didn't take her forfeit well, spewing out how a true Dauntless would never concede; _a brave man never surrenders. _Four shook it off as he announced the next match. This time it was Mattie's turn to fight Morgan.

This fight lasted much longer as the two were so close in rank. It seemed almost choreographed as the two moved in synchronized motions. _Kick, block, punch, block, kick, punch, kick. Kick, punch, kick, block, punch, block, kick. _Nikki, Warsan, and Isabelle watched intently as their friend fought to defend her rank. They had to admit, watching the two girls fight was almost beautiful despite the blood that had been spilt and the bruises that already started to form on their faces. A few minutes later, Mattie had landed a hard blow to the back of Morgan's head, causing the girl to fall face-first to the mats below. Mattie took her opportunity to sit on the girl's back as she grabbed Morgan's arm, twisting it back harshly. Morgan wailed in pain before Four ended the fight, awarding Mattie victory.

Isabelle sighed in relief. It was good to see a friend succeed when so much was at stake. Mattie looked over at her friends as she stepped down from the ring, blood between her teeth as she smiled brightly at them. The three smiled back, offering their congratulations to the girl.

Anne and Avicus were next. He was just as merciless towards the girl as Virgil was towards Mia, the only difference was that Virgil acted that way because he knew he had to survive and show the trainers that he was worth being called Dauntless. Avicus acted like a heathen because he liked to see a poor girl suffer at his own hands—he liked to see blood shed because he could make it so. Isabelle felt sick to her stomach as she watched Avicus attack the girl so viciously, like a wolf preying on a wounded fawn. If it had been any other opponent, Isabelle wouldn't think twice about the amount of aggression used, but it was Avicus and it drove her mad with disgust.

The fight ended with Avicus as victor, causing Isabelle to groan in detest. Avicus noticed her distress and as he passed by the former Erudite he made sure to brush against her shoulder roughly as she stumbled back slightly. Her eyes bore into his momentarily and she made sure to hold back no amount of hate that she harbored towards him. He merely chuckled as sat down on the side of the ring to regain his breath and strength.

The final fight of the morning was between Sido and Warsan. This fight was quicker than Avicus' or Mattie's but longer than Mia's. Though Warsan was of higher rank, he allowed himself to be fooled with a false sense of security which gave Sido the opportunity to strike when Warsan was unprepared. She ended up winning the match and Warsan was blind with anger at himself for being so reckless in the fight. Eric seemed just as disappointed as his jaw clenched when he saw the top ranking transfer lose to someone who didn't seem like much of a challenge.

Then they broke for lunch. Isabelle and Nikki ate lightly as they didn't want to upset their stomachs before or during their match. With each passing moment Isabelle grew more and more anxious of the fight that was to take place. The one person whom she saw as nearly invincible had lost his match; she was not nearly the fighter he was and yet he still fell defeated, so how was she to fare in the ring? She felt her stomach twist into knots at the thought of failing. She was already so low in the ranks that if she were to lose her first match, Isabelle thought of just giving up.

_No, _she thought suddenly, _a true Dauntless wouldn__'__t allow herself to feel such things, allow herself to wallow in self-pity over something that hasn__'__t even happened yet. _Isabelle choose Dauntless for a reason, because she felt that she belonged nowhere else and that this faction could give her life meaning. Giving up now was not an option. Like Eric said, a brave man never surrenders.

Isabelle slapped herself mentally for actually quoting Eric, even if no one else knew. She found herself thinking of him often during the past week. She still couldn't figure out why he seemed so familiar, but she also couldn't help but allow herself to watch him from time to time. He was quite handsome despite his cold exterior and Isabelle couldn't help but be fascinated by his cold-exterior.

Nikki wasn't nearly as nervous as Isabelle was about her match, in fact she was extremely excited as she shook with anticipation in her chair as she ate and drank. Warsan remained silent, ashamed of his defeat in the ring. Mattie tried cheering him up but her words fell to deaf ears as he would not listen to any of it. Kathryn was going to jest about the subject, but her brother stopped her before she said something she would surely regret. Besides Mattie's attempts to lift Warsan's spirits, the group of six remind silent.

Avicus, on the other hand, made sure to boast about his victory in the ring as he sat one table behind the six. His obnoxious voice ringing in Isabelle's ears as he spoke of how he so viciously drawn blood from Anne. The brunette girl clenched her fists as he continued to speak and with every word that left his mouth, Isabelle despised him more and more.

Back at the warehouse, it was revealed that Isabelle was to fight Aliyah who was a few rankings above the brunette. Nikki, Mattie, and Warsan wished their friend good luck as she took off her shoes and jacket before she stepped into the ring. Eric and Four stood at the side to watch.

Aliyah was taller than Isabelle, and stronger as well with nicely formed muscles in her arms and legs. During training, Isabelle noticed that she was improving everyday and that intimidated Isabelle. No, it didn't really, but it did fuel her to accomplish what she had come here to do.

The girls circled each other for a moment with arms raised in a defensive position. Aliyah was the first to attack, attempting to punch Isabelle in the jaw, but the brunette was able to dodge it swiftly. Aliyah ran at Isabelle, swinging her fists maliciously as she tried to land a single punch, but Isabelle kept dodging, not yet attacking.

Isabelle heard Eric sigh loudly, knowing that he was growing impatient with her passive defenses. Aliyah attacked again, throwing a successful punch to her face. Isabelle yelled out, feeling the blood ooze from her nose. Aliyah continued to punch, but Isabelle was able to block the rest. Finally, Isabelle saw her chance as grabbed Aliyah's wrist twisting it as she did so. In a split second, Isabelle lifted her leg and kicked the other girl in the stomach, causing the taller girl to groan out in pain. Aliyah didn't take that too kindly as she grabbed Isabelle by the shoulders and threw her to the ground just before landing several kicks to her sides.

Aliyah got in a few good kicks in before Isabelle had enough, grabbing the other girl's foot as she yanked her to the ground. Isabelle rolled on top of the girl as she locked her legs around Aliyah's, keeping her in place as she applied a great amount pressure to the back of the girl's neck while pushing the girl's face against the mat below; again Aliyah let out an agonized yelp of pain.

"Stop playing around," Eric called out as he glared at Isabelle. "Finish it. Now."

Without hesitation Isabelle punched Aliyah in the back of the head, causing the girl to fall unconscious. The victor stood, her eyes never leaving the girl's body. Eric ordered for two initiates to take Aliyah to the infirmary; they obliged as they each grabbed one of the girl's arms before dragging her away. When Aliyah and the two others were out of sight, Isabelle's eyes fell to her hands; they were trembling slightly.

"Good job," it was Eric who stood beside her. Isabelle didn't look up at him, her mind seemingly to be elsewhere. "It seems that every time we watch you demonstrate a task you prove us wrong."

Isabelle was silent for a moment before her hands ceased trembling, finally glancing up to meet Eric's eyes. "That's what I'm here to do, prove that I am Dauntless." And with that Isabelle stepped out of the ring, grabbing her shoes and jacket before making her way to the back of the group.


	5. Chapter 4

The hustle and bustle of the dining hall was in overdrive that night as everyone had apparently worked up an appetite from the day's training and matches. The group of four congratulated Kathryn and Robbie for making the two top spots on the leaderboard. Robbie thanked his friends while Kathryn boasted quite lively on how she was going to win this bet, totally confident in herself and her abilities. The four then told the two Dauntless borns how their matches of the week fared; Warsan was still in his mood and barely spoke all night.

Nikki grabbed a hold of Isabelle's shoulders as she shook them quite forcefully as they sat for dinner. "_That__'__s what I__'__m here to do_," Nikki recited the brunette's words from earlier that day to Kathryn and Robbie, "_to prove that I am Dauntless! _Oh, it was so brilliant! I wish you guys were there, you would've loved it—especially you Kathryn!"

Robbie raised a brow to the brunette, "_you_ said this, to _Eric_?"

Isabelle nodded, although she wasn't entirely pleased with herself for being so brash, "I didn't mean to… it just kinda slipped out."

"Well you told him," Kathryn replied as she winked playfully to her friend.

"I said I didn't mean to! I'm just so sick of everyone thinking I don't belong here."

Mattie took a sip from her cup, "I hope you know that we're joking, right? I mean, we joke around with everyone here; it's not like we're picking on you or anything."

"I know that," Isabelle admitted, "I meant people like Eric and Avicus."

"Avicus?" Nikki asked through gritted teeth, "what did that prick say to you?"

Isabelle waved her hand, signaling them to stop investigating, "it's nothing, just Avicus being himself."

"A prick," Nikki finished.

"Yeah."

"The best part," Mattie spoke as she finished chewing her food, "about when you told Eric off, was the expression on his face. It looked like he wanted to snap you in two."

Isabelle groaned as she rested her head on the table. She was doing fine by simply improving herself during training, but then she had to open her mouth. Eric was not someone she wanted to get on his bad side; Isabelle had seen and heard of what Eric was capable of doing to initiates when they've back-talked or disappointed him. Isabelle didn't want to end up like them—that was the last thing she wanted.

"I have an idea," Kathryn said as she poked Isabelle frantically, "I know how to turn that frown upside down."

Groggily, the brunette looked up but Kathryn kept poking her. "If I let you speak, can you stop touching me?"

Kathryn nodded.

"What is it then?"

"Why don't we get out of here after dinner? We can go to the parlor and get some tattoos, all of us! It'll be fun."

"I'm done for that," Nikki said.

Mattie and Robbie agreed. Warsan wanted nothing to do with the parlor and abruptly left the dining hall to retire to bed, his failure in the ring making him irritable. Isabelle though it over: having a tattoo or a piercing could be fun and it'll make her feel a little more like she belonged here with the other Dauntless members; even Four had tattoos even though he never showed them off like Eric or Ashur did. Maybe it'd give her some confidence in her training to show people that she wasn't afraid of anything.

"Yeah," she finally breathed out, "let's do it."

Kathryn grabbed the edge of the table and shook it fiercely out of pure excitement, "fuck yeah, let's get tatted up!"

"Initiate!" Ashur's voice boomed from across the room, causing Kathryn to stop her antics immediately as she turned to look at him, "settle down!"

"Yes, sir! Sorry, sir! Won't happen again, sir!" The way she replied was almost sarcastic, but Ashur was too tired to get into it with her so he left the dining hall. Kathryn smirked over at her friends, "I got him wrapped around my finger," her smirk broadened when she glanced over at Isabelle, "you should take note."

"I hope one day he kicks your ass," Robbie replied, looking at his sister. Kathryn only responded by sticking her tongue out at him.

After dinner, the gang changed out of their training clothes and opted for their more appealing night attire that they had bought a few nights ago at the Top Shop with the points that were given for spending. Isabelle wore a long-sleeved shirt that had mesh on the upper part of her chest and on her sleeves, revealing some skin, as well as skin-tight black jeans. She also wore black combat boots that had a small, thick heel which helped give her an extra inch or two.

Nikki wore a black dress and regular combat boots while Mattie wore black cargo pants and a black tank top with her own combat boots. Kathryn dressed similarly to Isabelle, only she opted to sport a black vest over her shirt; the girls had even done their own makeup, something that was a new experience to them all except for Kathryn who gave out tips whenever she could. Meanwhile, Robbie wore simple black pants and a matching vest over a black wife-beater. After they got ready, the five of them headed down to the tattoo parlor.

When the entered, Isabelle was in awe at the beauty of the parlor. Each section of it had a different colored light that hung above, giving that specific section of the parlor a certain color. There were also so many designs that were displayed on yellow-tinted plexiglass all over the shop; there were hundreds to choose from making it hard for the group to decide on which design to get.

"Can I help you?" A woman's voice called out as she stepped from behind a large curtain—it probably led into the back room.

"We're just looking right now. Thanks." Robbie replied to be polite.

"Alright. My name's Tori, come see me when you picked out a design. If I'm busy, Holland or Alois over there can help you out."

The group nodded in thanks as they scattered around the parlor, looking at all the different designs. Isabelle wandered off with Robbie as they examined each one, taking some inter consideration while others they scratched off their list all together.

Robbie was looking at some Celtic-inspired designs before he found one that caught his eye. He picked up the plexiglass and held it in his hands, staring at it for a moment. Isabelle was looking at her own when she felt felt Robbie tap her shoulder, "how about this one?"

She turned to look at the design he had picked out, her mouth fell slightly at the one he chose. It was all line work, but with so many different linear designs interwoven together; some lines thicker than others while they shaped unique tribal motifs. "That's stunning Robbie. I think you chose a good one. Where would you put it?"

"I'm thinking about making it a sleeve, starting from the base of my neck wrapping all the way down just past my elbow. How does that sound? Would that look cool or no?"

"It looks awesome, Robbie. Seriously."

He smiled, thanking the girl before he caught sight of his sister waving her arms at him.

"Hey, Rob," Kathryn shouted from across the parlor, "we should get matching tattoos!"

Robbie grimaced and gave his sister the finger, eliciting a fit of giggles from the other Dauntless born and Nikki who stood by her side. He thanked Isabelle again before he was off to find one of the tattoo artists, whoever was available. She smiled as he ventured away. Nikki, Mattie, and Kathryn caught up with the brunette, showing her the designs they had chosen for themselves. Nikki decided on stars to be placed above her left breast while Mattie had chosen a lion line-art concept to go on the inside of her forearm. Kathryn opted for a wolf on her calf.

"How about you?" Nikki asked. "What are you getting?"

Isabelle shook her head, "No tattoo for me sadly."

"What? Why not?"

"I think I'd rather wait until after initiation to get a tattoo—I don't want to jinx it."

"So, you're not gonna get anything? You came all the way down here." Kathryn asked.

Isabelle couldn't help but contain a smile, "I didn't say that. I think I'm gonna get a piercing or two."

"Hell yeah, that's what I'm talking about!"

With their minds set, the other three initiates getting tattoos made their way over to Tori who was almost done with Robbie's tattoo; they all stood around the boy, watching the procedure as it wrapped up.

"I don't mean to intrude," a voice said behind Isabelle, causing her to jump slightly as she turned to see an older man; he had taupe-colored hair tied behind him in a long braid. He was watching her behind thick-rimmed glasses, "I heard ya were interested in some piercings?"

Isabelle continued to examine the man as the tattoos on his neck were quite visible, as were the piercings in his septum, eyebrow, and lip along with his stretched out earlobes. He reached out a tattooed hand, "the name's Holland. And you are?"

"Isabelle," she replied automatically, taking his hand. She couldn't take her eyes off of his majestic mustache as it was styled to curl upwards.

"Nice to meet ya. Do ya have any idea of what'cha might like?"

The girl blushed slightly as she shook her head, avoiding his eyes, "I have no idea."

Holland smiled, leading her over to his chair. "Not to worry, Isabelle. I have a book of all the piercings I can perform, so just take a look and whatever ya want I'll be happy to make it happen. Just holler for me when you've decided."

Isabelle thanked Holland as he strolled away, offering to help Tori out with the tattoos of her friends. And so she opened the book, flipping through page after page of pictures of all the different types of piercings. Some had caught her eye while others made her cringe, wondering how someone could ever possible get _that _pierced. Isabelle shuddered at the mere thought.

It took Isabelle a good five minutes to go through the entire book; only a few minutes later did Holland reappear with a smile on his face. "So, did ya find any that caught'cha attention?"

"Several," Isabelle replied honestly, "I don't know how to possibly choose among them."

"Can I let you in on a little secret?"

The girl nodded.

"Ya can get more than one at a time; it all just depends on how well ya can tolerate pain."

"And the depth of my purse," Isabelle added with a grin, although remaining somewhat serious.

The tatted man laughed, shaking his head in amusement at the girl's words. "Initiates get tattoos and piercings free of charge—it encourages ya younglings to do well during training; leaders also get tattoos for free, but that's a different story."

Isabelle smiled at the news, turning back to the book as she flipped through the pages, trying to find the images of the piercing that she wanted. "In that case, I'd like this one," she said as she pointed to a specific lip piercing.

"Ah, the labret; good choice."

"And then I want my ears stretched with tapers and my left cartilage pierced, please."

Holland nodded, pursing his lips playfully as he thought over Isabelle's demands. "I will get my equipment ready then. Just sit back and relax; I'll be back momentarily."

Isabelle nodded as she sat back in the chair, crossing her ankles together as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. She could hear Kathryn's voice as she had just finished getting her tattoo, squealing about how marvelous it was, which caused Isabelle to chuckle. She also heard the door to the parlor open, signaling that someone new had entered the shop.

All was quiet and serene until Isabelle heard footsteps approach, stopping just as the person had reached her chair.

"Brave enough for a tattoo, huh initiate?"

Isabelle slowly opened her eyes to look up at Eric as he stood before her, towering over her sitting form. "Not today, sir."

"Piercings then?"

Isabelle nodded, never breaking eye contact with her instructor. "A few."

"A few?" He asked, arching his brows in feign surprise. "How many, exactly?"

"Three."

He nodded, turning his attention over to Isabelle's friends as they all took pride in their new tattoos. "I don't see your dark-skinned friend amongst the others. Where he is?"

"Not feeling well, sir. He thought it was best for him to rest before tomorrow's training."

"I'd rest too if I had the shit beat out of me by someone of a significantly lower rank. Wouldn't you agree?"

The girl swallowed hard, trying to suppress an expression of distaste while holding back her tongue. "Yes, sir."

"Probably a good thing though," the blond said, "that Warsan isn't here; it'd be a shame if he were to get a tattoo and then have to leave Dauntless permanently."

"Does that happen, sir? Initiates getting tattoos and then end up not making it in?"

"All the time."

"What happens then?"

"We burn the tattoo off."

Holland came back with the much needed supplies, dumping them on the over-head table, pushing it towards his chair. "Eric!" He exclaimed loudly with a grin, "good to see ya, brother. Back for another piercing? Or another tattoo, perhaps?"

"I've been feeling the need for a tattoo this time, Holland."

"Splendid! I'll be with ya as soon as I'm finished with Isabelle here. You can take a look around the shop for—"

"I have my tattoo picked out already," Eric replied, "I'll just wait here until your done."

This time it was Holland who swallowed the lump in his throat, nodding with a nervous smile. He cleaned his equipment with disinfectant before turning to the girl. "Alright Isabelle," he said as he picked up his slotted forceps, taking a hold of her bottom lip as he pulled it down in preparation for the piercing, "there's just gonna be a slight pinch as the needle goes through."

"Don't flinch," Eric threatened, a stoic smirk smug on his face.

_Was this a test? _Isabelle thought. It didn't matter because the brunette didn't so much as blink as Holland quickly slid the needle through the middle of her bottom lip; he grabbed the stud and slid it through as well before turning the clasp shut so that it was secure between the skin.

"How does that feel, Is?" The artist asked. He then turned to the leader as he raised a pierced brow, "looks pretty good, huh Eric?"

"Enchanting," he mocked playfully.

Isabelle ignored the leader as she smiled over at Holland, "It feels fine."

Holland smiled back, nodding in joy. He was just as delicate, yet fast with her cartilage piercing and her tapers. It wasn't long before she was done and he explained to her how to take care of the piercings. Holland offered a mirror for Isabelle to take a look at his fine work. "Do they fit your satisfaction?"

"They're amazing, thank you Holland."

Holland laughed, bowing slightly, "I aim to please. How does she fare, Eric?"

There was silence as Eric's intense blue eyes scanned over her face. He paused at her lips, her bottom lip that was now slightly red and swollen from being penetrated by with a needle; his gaze roamed to her eyes that appeared darker than they naturally were underneath the colored lights above. He caught himself staring, so he averted his gaze to glance back over at Holland. "She looks more Dauntless every time I see her."

It was that comment that made a light blush creep onto Isabelle's cheeks, feeling her face warm up instantly. Eric smirked, proud of his achievement, before he started to make his way towards Tori, "I'll be back in a moment, Holland."

Once the leader was out of earshot, Holland nudged the frozen girl with his elbow, "that's the closet thing to a compliment that I've heard to slip from his mouth—I think he likes ya."

Isabelle scoffed, looking up at Holland, "I doubt it."


	6. Chapter 5

**Author's note: **This chapter may have more cursing and some other material that is a bit more graphic than previous ones. So just as a forewarning. Also, I will try and update the story every Tuesday and Friday, but life is mischievous so we will just play it by ear for now :) Enjoy.

* * *

><p><em>1. Kathryn 2. Robbie 3. Virgil 4. Vikki 5. <em>_Durro__ 6. Nikki__  
><em>

_7. Sido 8. Alexandria 9. Mattie 10. JD 11. Nicole 12. _Artemis ___13. __Isabelle_

_14. Warsan 15. Avicus __16. Morgan 17. Mark 18. Aliyah 19. Flot_

_20. Axel 21. Aldo 22. Jordan 23. Maxine 24. Jay 25. Danielle_

_26. __Anne __27. Shelby__** 28. Abigail 29. Conner 30. Levy 31. Mia 32. Bruce**_

The group of four stood at the scoreboard and looked at the results from the other day's matches and training. Isabelle couldn't help but smile in relief, feeling the wave of anxiety that had mustered up in her stomach all night long disappear. Although, she was a little upset when she saw Warsan's results; he was still above the line, but so was Avicus; both boys were just above the cut-off.

Isabelle pursed her lips as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, her eyes glued to the screen as if waiting for the results to change—waiting to see Avicus' status lowered. It never did though, so the brunette huffed and turned to her friends.

"You fell quite a bit out of the lead, but at least you're still above the cut-off." Nikki said, trying to reassure Warsan.

He nodded as he stretched out his arms. "I let my own cockiness get the best of me; it won't happen again."

"Last night's sleep must've knocked some sense into your head," Mattie noted, "good to know."

"Shut up," he snapped quietly, "come the next match, I will be victor and regain my rank."

Isabelle chuckled to herself, glad to see that her friend was back to normal; hopefully the situation would make the boy want to train harder, train better, so that he wouldn't make the same mistake again in the ring. The last thing Isabelle wanted was to see one of her friends leave Dauntless and end up factionless. Her friends were good people—smart, kind, funny, and they all liked her despite her more introverted demeanor—something she couldn't say for the people she grew up with in Erudite. It wasn't that they were mean to the girl, not at all. Isabelle just felt that she didn't belong with the other Erudite children. With each passing day, Isabelle was proud to say that she felt herself becoming more and more comfortable and confident with being in a faction that held bravery above all other characteristics.

Eric's words from the other night echoed through her head. _She looks more Dauntless every time I see her. _Isabelle couldn't help but smile, a light blush reappearing on her cheeks as she looked down at her feet. The girl was glad that she was proving Eric wrong, even if it was only a little bit at a time. She wanted to belong here. She wanted to be Dauntless.

"What are you smiling about?" Mattie asked as she stepped closer to her friend, readjusting the pins to keep her bangs out of her face.

The grin on Isabelle's face fell. She glanced up at her friend, trying to conceal her feelings. "It's nothing—I'm just happy that I've moved up that far on the scoreboard."

Mattie examined Isabelle's face, her eyes narrowing slightly as she watched for any changing expressions that would prove her wrong, but when Isabelle remained stoic, Mattie nodded, "I'm glad you did too. All we have to do is worry about Warsan at the moment."

"I heard that!" the boy snapped, causing the girls to laugh.

Eric and Four stormed in suddenly, causing the group of kids to look their way. Isabelle noticed the newly added tattoos on Eric's arms as he brushed past her and her friends. "Alright, listen up," it was Four who spoke as the two instructors stood near the main ring, "we'll be doing some more knife practicing this morning as some of you are still in need of improvement, so this is your chance. Later on you'll be practicing on your own in the ring and at the punching bags while Eric and I supervise and lend helping hands to those who need it."

"But first," Eric intervened, "give us ten laps."

The group of initiates didn't wait to be told to start, they just simultaneously started their laps around the inside of the warehouse where they had been training for the past couple of weeks. Three done, seven to go, although Isabelle wasn't completely sure how long the physical stage of training lasted. She knew that the last stage of training—the mental—was a single test that would determine if an initiate was truly Dauntless… or not.

Nikki ran with Mattie as Isabelle kept her strong pace with Warsan. The initiates had been running each day since the beginning of training, so slowly and steadily Isabelle had been improving her cardiovascular health. She hated running, but was grateful that it was apart of their everyday training. The other three didn't seem to mind it as they ran almost effortlessly.

The ten laps were over in no time, with only a few stragglers behind. Mia was amongst one of them. As the four took a lap to cool down, Isabelle couldn't help her curious mind.

"Why do you think Mia transferred to Dauntless? I mean, she doesn't seem to fit in at all, so what made her choose this faction? Isn't she from Abnegation? Why didn't she just stay there?"

Warsan looked over at the brunette with a confused look on his face as he raised his arms above his head to improve his breathing, "Haven't you heard the rumors about them, the Abnegation?"

Isabelle shook her head. _Obviously not_, she thought.

"Those people beat their kids," Nikki chimed in.

"You're lying," Isabelle breathed out.

Nikki shook her head, "No seriously! A few years back this one guy, I don't remember his name, beat his kids their entire lives. He threatened them to stay with him in Abnegation when it came time for them to go to the choosing ceremony. And they did."

"It's true," Warsan agreed, "I've heard a couple of instances where the parents of Abnegation kids beat them and threaten them to stay with the family. _Everyone else above our own selfish needs_, what a way to guilt-trip them, huh?"

"So what about Mia?" Isabelle inquired.

Mattie shrugged her shoulders, "I heard she left to get away from her abusive parents. Why she chose Dauntless, I'll never know, but I figured she just wanted out."

Isabelle lowered her eyes as she turned her head away, a sad expression adorned her face. "I don't blame her. Why stay somewhere you're not wanted?"

After they had finished their cool-down lap, the four made their way to the back of the warehouse were the knife training took place. Immediately the initiates started their training while Eric and Four came up from behind to watch. Isabelle took her position besides Nikki and Mattie and grabbed a hold of one of the knives, feeling the weight of it in her hand.

Isabelle looked up at the human-shaped target a few feet from her and examined it for a moment before she cocked her arm back and whipped her wrist forward, releasing the blade from her grasp. The knife barely made it into the inner circle in the middle of the target. Isabelle frowned, wishing to make a bullseye.

Isabelle took ahold of another knife, once again noticing the weight of it. She looked back at the target and took a deep breath before cocking her arm back and whipping her wrist forward. She missed the center target again, but was relatively closer than her first attempt. It wasn't until her fourth attempt that she finally hit the bullseye. Despite Eric scolding her before, Isabelle still used her Erudite ways of calculation and critical thinking to help her find the perfect way to throw the knife in order to increase her accuracy and precision at hitting the target.

Her other friends were nearly as good as Isabelle, but Nikki was the weakest in the sport than the others. She didn't seem to mind though, laughing at her mistakes and trying her best to improve. That's what Isabelle loved about the strawberry blonde, that she was able to see her mistakes and not worry about them, unlike herself. Nikki knew she was a top competitor, so a small flub here and there wouldn't hurt her chances at remaining above the cut-off line.

Halfway through knife-throwing, Isabelle over-heard Eric criticizing poor Mia about her technique while Four helped another initiate. Despite Eric being attractive, Isabelle couldn't help but think that he could be a huge asshole a majority of the time; of course, he was just doing his job—training the initiates so that only the best of the best could be bestowed the honor of joining Dauntless—but sometimes Isabelle thought that the blond leader took a little too much joy in causing others pain and humiliation.

As they continue to practice, Isabelle heard Avicus snicker and make a rude comment to Nikki who stood next to him. She scoffed loudly and told the boy to fuck off, causing Isabelle to smirk at her friends brashness; it seemed that Dauntless was brushing off on all of her friends.

Avicus didn't seem to mind her vulgar response and continued to talk to Nikki as they practiced. The way he spoke to her was as if he were a guy at a bar trying to win the affections of a girl who was just not interested—insisting and insisting that she talk to him, trying to get her attention and such. He then said something about her new tattoo as he reached out to lightly touch it with his fingertips. Nikki was about to lunge at the boy with knife in hand, but Isabelle was able to grab hold of her arm in the nick of time as Four looked over at the sudden commotion. Nikki settled down, lowering the knife before flinging it towards the target—it landed in the head of the target. Avicus smirked maliciously as he turned his attention back to practice. Isabelle watched out of the side of her eye to see Four whispering to Eric, but neither instructor looked towards the girl's direction. _Good, _she thought as she threw another knife at the target, _we don__'__t need anymore attention from them._

The initiates practiced their knife-throwing for another hour before they moved on to continue with their combative skills. Warsan practiced in the ring with Virgil, a boy that the former-Erudite found fellowship in; Warsan liked the girls and he would always be their friend, but the boy desired to find companionship with someone of the same-sex to talk about guy-things with. That, and he wanted to practice with the best of the transfers to improve his performance in the ring. Isabelle, Mattie, and Nikki on the other hand decided it was best to practice at the punching bags until lunch.

* * *

><p>The entire day seemed to pass by quickly as everyone had entered the dining hall for dinner. Training went well. Isabelle had tried practicing some maneuvers to overtake her opponents by jumping on them and using her legs and weight to bring them down—something she had seen been done by a Dauntless guard when she was younger. Isabelle failed at the attempts the first couple of times, but near the end of the evening she felt pretty confident in her progress. Of course she wasn't even close at perfecting it, but she still had time to do so.<p>

Virgil had invited Warsan to sit with him and Sido, so he told the girls that he wasn't going to join them for dinner. They smiled and allowed the boy to relish in his newly found friendship with the red-haired beauty. There were a few initiates absent from dinner, including a certain black-haired boy, to which Isabelle didn't seem to mind; Nikki hadn't shown up for dinner either when Robbie arrived, absent of his twin. He had a fresh bruise on his cheekbone and a nearly blackened left eye.

"What happened to you, Rob?" Mattie asked, cutting up her food with the fork and knife.

"Kathryn and I were paired up in matches today," he pointed at his swollen eye, "and this was the result."

"So where's Kathryn?"

Robbie smiled, taking a sip of his drink with pride, "I sent her ass to the infirmary with a dislocated shoulder and a few bruises."

Isabelle grinned at the blond boy, "looks like we might just make it through the bet, huh Robbie?"

He laughed and gave the brunette a fist bump, "in it to win it, baby." Robbie took a moment to look around, not noticing the dark-skinned boy or the strawberry blonde girl. "Where's Nikki and Warsan? Not in the infirmary too, I hope."

Mattie shook her head, "Warsan is over there with Virgil," she said as she pointed over at the boys.

Robbie placed a hand over his heart and made a cute face as he pursed his lips together. "Aw, making new friends. I'm so proud. And Nikki?"

"She said she was going to wash up before dinner; she wanted to head down to the tattoo parlor and talk to Tori about her job. She's really interested in Tori's line of work and hopes that, if she passes initiation, she could possibly work with Tori and Holland in the parlor."

Isabelle looked up at the clock at the opposite wall, narrowing her eyes slightly. "She's been gone a while, no? I mean, dinner's halfway over and a shower doesn't take _that_ long."

"I suppose so," Mattie replied, taking a bite of her hamburger, "maybe she decided to skip dinner and just head down to the parlor before it was time for bed."

"Maybe she fell in the toilet," Robbie joked, getting a chuckle out of Mattie, but not the other girl.

The brunette thought over what Mattie had said, but she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy about the situation. Isabelle shook her head as her stomach churned with knots, suddenly feeling very anxious. "I think I'm just going to go check up on her; make sure everything's okay."

"Alright, see ya later Is."

And with that the girl stood and disposed of her trash before leaving the dining hall, descending into the dimly lit hallways that led deep into the Dauntless compound. She remembered how the corridors were so confusing the first few times she ventured around the compound, but now it was like second nature. As she turned each corner, she would peer down others, looking for her strawberry blonde friend.

Isabelle admired the gray-white stone walls that kept the compound from crumbling in on itself, especially at the Pit and even so further down into the Chasm. She had never been there, the Chasm, and she hoped she never had to. Isabelle heard the stories of how some accidentally fell to their deaths while others willingly jumped into the darkness, ending their own lives. It was horrible to know that some threw themselves into the Chasm because they wanted to, or because they felt that they had no other choice. Isabelle felt goosebumps rise up on her skin.

Finally she had walked down the steps that led into the transfer's living quarters. Isabelle overheard the showers running, but there was no sign of Nikki near her bunk. _She must be down at the tattoo parlor already, _Isabelle thought as she turned to make her way back towards the stairs. As she walked back past the showers, Isabelle could've sworn she heard the sound of muffled crying. Finding it odd, the girl peeked into the shower just to ease her nerves.

As she peaked through the open doorway, Isabelle's eyes immediately landed on two figures at the far end of the showers, huddled in the corner as the steam lingered around them, making it a little hard for Isabelle to see exactly what was going on. She was able to make the figures out though—a tall boy with dark hair towering over a girl with blondish hair; the boy was fully dressed while the girl was left only in her undergarments. He had one of his large hands wrapped around the girl's neck while the other was positioned on her thigh to keep her in place as he was stationed in between her legs.

The girl was thrashing around underneath his grip, but she soon stopped as her blue eyes filled with fright and tears found Isabelle's—it was Nikki.

The man, still oblivious to the brunette who stood at the opposite end of the shower, laughed in the girl's face. "Tell me to fuck off now, you stupid bitch." Immediately Isabelle recognized the voice that could only belong to one black-haired initiate; it was Avicus.

Overwhelmed by anger, Isabelle rushed over to the boy and found herself behind him within seconds, unsure of where her stealthiness had come from. Before the boy could turn around, Isabelle had grabbed the arm that held Nikki's thigh thigh in place and swung it behind his back forcefully before she raised her leg and stepped down as hard as she could on the underside of his popliteal. The boy fell to his knees with a horrendous yelp of pain as he let go of Nikki's throat, freeing the frightened girl. She didn't waste any time to step out of his sight before she dashed out of the bathroom, running to get any of the leaders for help.

With Avicus on his knees, Isabelle reached out with her other hand and grabbed the boy by his hair, feeling it's coarseness as she held on tightly. She didn't hesitate to smash his face into the tiled wall. He groaned again in pain, still unaware of who his attacker was. Isabelle did this a few times, blood running down the wall and into the drain below. Tired of being the victim, Avicus threw his head back suddenly, knocking the girl in the nose. Isabelle stumbled back as she pinched her now bleeding nose, trying to stop the hemorrhaging.

The boy turned to see Isabelle standing before him, a sick smirk gracing his thin-lips. "Oh, big sister comes to the rescue, huh?" He mocked with a laugh, the blood interwoven between his teeth. "You're going to fucking regret this ever happened."

Isabelle snarled as she lunged for the boy, but the wet floors caused her to slip as she landed on her back, knocking the wind out of her suddenly. The male took the opportunity to straddled the girl, one leg on either side of her hips as he reached out and wrapped his hands around her neck. Isabelle's hands found themselves on his, trying to pry the pervert off of her, but he was too strong and the water from the shower above made it difficult for her to do so. Avicus' grip on her neck tightened, but the girl found enough strength to knee the boy it he groin.

Avicus toppled over on his side, cradling his crotch in his hands. Isabelle gasped for air, trying to take deep breaths to regain her senses. She then stood, towering over the dark-haired boy as the blood continuously trickled down her nose and her wet hair clung to her face. With all of her remaining strength, Isabelle kicked the boy mercilessly in the stomach, back, and face until Eric, Four, Ashur, Lauren, and Nikki arrived; the strawberry blonde was wrapped in a blanket. Ashur and Lauren rushed over to Avicus while Eric grabbed Isabelle by her shoulders, pulling the girl away from the defenseless Avicus who now lay unconscious.

"Enough!" He ordered, keeping Isabelle from harming the boy any further by turning her to face him. "What the fuck is going on?"

Isabelle's breathing was now jagged and erratic as Eric held her still, trying to regain her cool. She turned to look over at her friend, "you didn't tell them Nikki?"

"No," she said, her voice shaky, "I just told them to come down here—that you two were fighting. I couldn't tell them—I couldn't…"

"What. Happened?" Eric repeated, shaking Isabelle slightly.

Looking up into Eric's eyes, Isabelle told him the truth. "Nikki hadn't come to dinner, so I came by to check on her. I heard crying coming from the showers so I went to investigate." Isabelle paused for a moment, swallowing the lump in her throat before continuing, "that's when I saw that Avicus had pinned Nikki to the wall with a hand on her thigh and the other around her neck—he was touching her inappropriately _and _against her will. I got angry, so I rushed him before we started to fight."

Four turned to Nikki, "is this true?"

"Yes," she whispered immediately, tugging on the blanket around her closer, "it's true. I was just taking a shower when Avicus came in and threw me to the wall, hitting my head against the tile before he started to choke me. I felt dizzy and weak, so I couldn't fight him off—that's when Isabelle came in. She was able to get him off me so that's when I ran to get help."

Eric nodded, letting Isabelle go. "Four, take Nikki to the infirmary. Ashur and Lauren, take Avicus down there as well, but restrain him until we're able to interrogate him."

The instructors nodded and did as they were told. Four wrapped an arm around Nikki's shoulder reassuringly as he led her out of the living quarter's. Ashur and Lauren grabbed Avicus underneath the arms and dragged him out of the bathroom, following Four along with way.

Isabelle stood quietly as Eric turned off the shower; the girl instantly felt a bit colder than before; she started to shake slightly from the chilliness in the room. "You like getting into trouble, don't you initiate?" Eric hissed at her, his words seething out of his mouth like venom.

"He was attacking my friend, sir, what was I to do?"

"How about not kicking his fucking teeth in? Did that ever cross your thick skull?"

Isabelle glared up at Eric, her hazel eyes burning with rage as she stepped closer to him, leaving no space in-between the two of them. Eric could feel her chest rise against his as she breathed. "I had no fucking choice! If I were to leave Nikki alone with him, who know's what would've happened to her!"

"She could've defended herself—we've trained her well enough."

The brunette lost her breath at Eric's words as her mouth fell open slightly. "Are you seriously blaming Nikki for what happened?"

"I never said that."

"But it sure as hell sounds like it!" Isabelle yelled, causing Eric's nostrils to flare, but she didn't care. She was mad as hell and wanted him to know. "You keep telling us that to become Dauntless we have to be brave and fearless in order to protect others, but that's not Avicus. He likes to hurt people weaker than him because he enjoys it; he's not Dauntless—he's a fucking coward who likes to prey on little girls because it makes him feel like a man. He's demented and sick and he will destroy anyone who goes near him."

Isabelle paused for a moment, suddenly feeling an overwhelming sense of dismay for all of the people Avicus might hurt. Isabelle lowered her eyes as she backed away from the leader slowly, blinking a few times. Isabelle could feel tears welt up in her eyes, but tried to shake them away. It didn't work as they fell down her already wet cheeks. She looked up into his eyes, imploring him with her own. "You have to get rid of him, Eric, please. If you don't, he's just going to cause more damage and hurt more people. Please, Eric."

Eric sighed, looking down at the girl as more tears fell down her cheek, her bottom lip quivering from the coldness of the shower room. Her beautiful hazel eyes pleaded that he do something about the monster that was Avicus, but he knew he couldn't do much on his own. His expression softened as he continued to look down at the brunette, noticing that her wet hair clung to her pretty face. "Protocol demands that we interrogate him first; we can't do anything until all parties involved in the incident tell their side of the story, after that the leaders get together to decide what happens, but it's a long process that could take weeks, months even—way past when initiation is over. So the only way that he leaves Dauntless is if he doesn't make the cut. I'm sorry, Isabelle."

"So that's it?" She asked, the anger returning to her voice, "you're not gong to fucking do anything about it?"

"I said I was sorry," Eric's said, hardening his tone. "Avicus will be docked points for such behavior."

"Fuck your apology Eric. It's not gonna give Avicus the punishment he deserves."

Normally, Eric wouldn't have taken Isabelle's attitude and cussing lightly, but she had the right to be angry and he didn't blame her. He apologized again before making his way out of the showers and out of the living quarters. Isabelle stood in the showers for a moment, letting everything that had happened process in her mind. Slowly, the girl wandered out of the showers and stripped of her wet clothes, putting on her pajamas as she waited on her cot for Warsan and Mattie to come down to rest for the night. Her mind still raced with profanities and hatred for both Avicus and Eric. She felt so stupid to think that Eric could help, that he was a good person underneath his cold exterior.

It was about a half-hour later when Isabelle's other two friends arrived, ready to prepare for bed. They noted how distressed the brunette looked and asked out of concern.

"We need to talk," Isabelle said flatly, almost completely void of emotion. "Something happened tonight involving Nikki and Avicus."

"Oh god," Mattie exhaled, "is she alright? What happened?"

"He tried to assault her in the shower." Isabelle heard Mattie gasp quietly as she placed a hand over her mouth in shock. "She's fine, just a bit shaken up is all."

"Where are they now?" Warsan asked, worry in his dark eyes.

"They're both in the infirmary. I walked in on Avicus assaulting Nikki, so I fought him off until I knocked him out cold."

"Do the leaders know?"

Isabelle nodded.

"What are they gonna do about it?"

"They can't do anything until Avicus tells them his side of the story; after that, the leaders will review the evidence given and decide then what to do, but Eric said it'll take months until they come up with a verdict."

"What about Avicus? Will he be suspended? Kicked out?"

Isabelle shook her head. "Like I said, there's nothing they can do," She paused for a moment, inhaling deeply as she looked up at her friends. "But _we__'__re _gonna do something about it. Eric said that the only way Avicus can leave the compound is if he doesn't make the cut during initiation… so we're gonna make sure that happens."

"And how will we do that?"

"We fight him during the matches and beat him. If all three of us fight him and win, he'll be knocked down below the cut-off line. He's nearly there on his own—almost close enough to be kicked out where he is; as an added bonus Eric said he's going to be docked points for his behavior, so he'll be ranked even lower when we fight him."

Warsan nodded, but looked a bit worried, "just one question: how do we get picked to fight Avicus? The leaders choose who the opponents are, not us."

"I've noticed that Eric chooses opponents based on two things: 1) how far apart the rankings are and 2) the relationship of the opponents; if two people are fighting during training, he's gonna match them up against each other—so that's what we'll do. It's most likely Eric's gonna make Avicus and I fight in the next match, so that's done with. All we need to do is worry about you two, alright?"

The two nodded, agreeing with their friend. Isabelle tried to smile, but her lips couldn't muster the strength to do so. And with that, the plan was set. Avicus was going to pay.


	7. Chapter 6

_Three in a half weeks later..._

The group of four had found a routine to get up early in the morning, about an hour or two before everyone else, in order to get a head start on their exercises before training. Immediately after the incident involving Avicus, Isabelle had thought that Eric and Four would arrange for matches, but that wasn't the case. Instead it was more combat training, more knife wielding, and more firearms handling as well as a trip to the wall to familiarize the initiates with it— it was where most of them would most likely be working anyway. There was an obstacle course thrown in here and there, as well as tests in endurance, agility, and stealth. Avicus' endless humiliation at the hands of Isabelle, Warsan, and Mattie would have to wait.

Isabelle and her friends had showered, brushed their teeth, and dressed while the rest of the initiates slept peacefully in their cots. Isabelle tied her hair up in a ponytail as the three of them made their way into the training warehouse to get some practice in before breakfast. The rankings had been updated after dinner the night before, but the initiates wouldn't have seen the results until the next morning, like Isabelle had as she entered the training facility.

_1. Robbie 2. Durro 3. Kathryn 4. Sido 5. Virgil 6. Nicole_

_7. Mattie 8. Isabelle 9. Artemis 10. Nikki 11. JD 12. Warsan 13. Vikki_

_14. Flot 15. Morgan 16. Aldo 17. Mark 18. Aliyah 19. Alexandria_

_20. Maxine 21. Axel 22. Avicus 23. Jordan 24. Jay 25. Danielle_

_26. Abigail 27. Shelby_**_ 28. Anne 29. Conner 30. Levy 31. Bruce 32. Mia_**

The truth of what happened a few weeks back in the showers traveled quickly amongst the initiates, transfers and Dauntless born alike. With light shed upon the subject, the ill-feelings that Isabelle and her crew felt towards the black-haired punk was shared amongst the other initiates. Some of the other initiates tried to ignore the situation, thinking that the entire thing would sort itself out eventually. Others actively shunned Avicus, leaving him out of conversations and things of the ilk; but there was a small group of initiates who took it upon themselves to incite as much frustration or anger in the boy as they purposely bumped into Avicus as they passed him on the way to dinner or they would provoke him by talking about him behind his back. Isabelle wasn't sure if that was the best choice of action, but it was refreshing to see that most of her peers had decided among themselves to do something about the situation.

The leaders had also decided to take _some_ action in the matter, precautions mostly. They ordered for at least two guards to provide security inside of the initiate's living quarters; Avicus was ordered to change beds—now he slept in the cot closest to the door in order to have a close eye kept on him during the earliest and latest hours of the day. He was never to be alone, as at least one guard was to watch him intently throughout the day, with the exception of training as Eric and Four would be there to monitor the boy.

They also decided it was the best course of action to keep Avicus occupied with different tasks after dinner to keep him out of trouble. He was ordered to clean the floors, wash the dishes, prepare the kitchen for the next morning—things of that ilk to ensure that he wouldn't be sneaking about and causing more damage that had already been done—all under the supervision of one or more leaders.

Max wasn't happy at all upon hearing news of the incident involving Avicus, Nikki, and Isabelle. He was ashamed that something as severe as sexual assault could happen within the compound, especially among the initiates—the future of the faction. It wasn't the first incident to occur, but Max wanted to ensure that it wouldn't happen again.

Despite it being a few weeks after her attack, Nikki was still weary of him as she tried her best to avoid the boy at any cost. Isabelle, on the other hand, was still choleric with both Avicus and the leaders for their lack of intervention. She was completely vexed, but tried not to allow it to persuade her thoughts or actions, trying to remain focused on her training, as did Nikki.

The four friends stretched their limbs before they did a few laps to warm up; with each passing day, the running and the overall training that Eric and Four had made them endure became easier and easier. Isabelle was now able to keep up with her friends, although she was still the weakest at running. She didn't mind though, she was just happy to be doing so well.

After the laps, they walked one more to cool down before they started to practice hand-to-hand combat on each other. Isabelle and Mattie demonstrated their techniques on each other, throwing punches and dodging them, providing counter attacks to kicks and such. Isabelle even tried practicing the move the learned the other day where she jumps onto her opponent to take them down with her own weight, but Mattie knew of her friend's style and was able to throw the smaller girl onto the floor—ending with both girls laughed at the attempt as Mattie helped Isabelle off of the ground.

Meanwhile on the observation deck above, Eric had walked into the warehouse to make sure that everything was ready for the day's training, as he did every morning during the nearly two-month training period. As he walked in, he overheard groans and the sounds of fists hitting the punching bags—sounds Eric was very familiar with. He stepped towards the rails on the observation deck until he saw the four figures practicing down below in the early morning's dim light.

He saw the tall girl and the dark-skinned boy practicing in the ring as the strawberry blonde observed from the side, mentally taking notes, but the lone brunette who stood at the punching bag caught his attention. She punched, kicked, and dodged the bag, all while repeating her actions. He could see the sweat bead run down the side of her face, her hair swaying from side to side as she continued to hit the swinging bag.

Eric couldn't help it when the corner of his lip curled up in a smirk as he watched her, Isabelle. When she first arrived at the compound nearly seven weeks earlier, Eric hadn't even the girl a second glance. She was just like all the other female transfers he'd seen the previous two years he'd been an instructor—she was so average to him, unnoticeable and mediocre. Watching the girl from above he noticed that everything that he thought made Isabelle ordinary now made her the exact opposite, upon realizing who she was. Now she stood out from the other girls, the other transfers. As he stood watching her from above, Eric noticed that over the past couple of days he couldn't get the girl out of his mind.

Everything about her was so ordinary—her plain brunette hair that was always up in a ponytail, her seemingly average brown eyes, her shorter stature, and her seemingly quiet, submissive demeanor. But as of late, Eric had noticed that Isabelle was becoming a bit more brash and bold with every passing day, especially after winning her first match when she told him off. Of course Eric felt a little disrespected, but later on that night he couldn't resist feeling a sting of amusement that the girl had finally grown a backbone—even if it wasn't much of one.

Eric could remember vividly the result of Isabelle's attack, the image of Avicus passed out bleeding on the floor fresh in his mind. It was then, however, after the other leaders had dragged Avicus' unconscious body to the infirmary along with Nikki, that Eric finally seen all the potential that Isabelle had within her to become a great member of Dauntless, if she were to embrace it. He saw it in her eyes, her beautiful hazel eyes—the fire that burned inside of her after she had beat Avicus to a bloody pulp in the shower room. She wasn't submissive at all, Eric noted; she was just playing the game, playing the role of the wallflower until she saw her opportunity to overtake the opponents who held power. When she would make her next move, Eric didn't know, but he knew it'd be soon, before it was too late. It wouldn't be long before she made a name for herself and Eric was going to witness it firsthand; Isabelle was an enigma waiting to be solved. Eric chuckled to himself before leaving the observation deck.

The four finished their early morning workout only a few minutes after Eric had left, not even notching that the leader had been watching them nearly the entire time—well, watching Isabelle. The transfers went back to their quarters to freshen up before they headed into the dining hall for breakfast.

The rest of breakfast was quiet as the initiates ate or picked at their food. Isabelle was filled with an uneasy sensation of ungodly rage as the images of the scene in the shower a few weeks back plagued her mind constantly, almost never leaving her. Isabelle swore that every time she saw Avicus she wanted rip off his head with her bare hands and make him wish he'd never met her, make him wish he'd never transfer to Dauntless for his own sake.

Breakfast was over with quickly as the four transfers said their goodbyes to Kathryn and Robbie, wishing them luck during training. Eric and Four where already in the training facility and ready to go when the transfers arrived in the warehouse for the day's training. As they entered the warehouse Isabelle's eyes fell upon the scoreboard again to which she scoffed; in order to be kicked out of Dauntless Avicus needed to drop at least six more rankings—and that's if he didn't win any matches or improve in his other skills. It was a stretch, but Isabelle was sure that they could pull it off. If Eric and the other leaders weren't going to do anything about it, Isabelle just had to make sure to take the matter into her own hands.

Her eyes scanned the area to find the black-haired boy— the one who had single handedly caused more distress and irritation than anything else in Isabelle's life... well, that wasn't completely true, but at the moment it was. After a few seconds of relentless searching, Isabelle had spotted him as he stood at the other end of the large group, towards the back so that he could be hidden amongst the others. Isabelle could see the remainder of the black eye and bruises she had inflicted on the bastard from their fight three weeks earlier, his lip was still swollen slightly. It was needless to say that Avicus was not at all pleased with how far he had dropped in the listings, cussing and verbally threatening all those who merely looked at him wrongly with violence. Avicus was nothing short of a child who tried to act like an adult. Personally, Isabelle would've liked to see his rank lowered even more—if she was a leader Isabelle would've made sure that Avicus would've been kicked out of Dauntless for his disgusting behaviors, but this would have to suffice for now. She smirked, but felt that she could inflict more damage on him if she was allowed; _all in due time,_ she thought, a glimmer of something truly malicious reflected in her hazel eyes.

"Ten laps," Eric shouted at the initiates, "before we begin today's matches. Let's move it."

By this time in their training running ten laps only took a few minutes, unlike the half-hour it nearly took them to do in the beginning of initiation, with the exception of the stragglers—those who were sure not to make it past the first stage. The group finished their cool-down lap and returned to the ring were Eric and Four waited patiently.

Four looked down at his clipboard, reading through the paired-up opponents that the two leaders had assigned the night before at dinner. "The first match of the day will be between Avicus and Isabelle."

The brunette nodded as she started to untie her shoes. When she approached the ring, Eric jumped down to stopped her, placing his hand on her sternum. "Change of plans," he said over his shoulder to Four before turning back to Isabelle. Her face dropped when he smirked in turn, "Avicus will be fighting Nikki this morning."

Isabelle narrowed her eyes at the instructor, but turned and walked away towards the strawberry blonde who approached the ring. The brunette stopped her friend, lightly taking her by the arm and pulling her close enough to hear her whispers. "I've been watching Avicus train the past couple of days, his right arm is his dominant one so when he swings for a punch, he'll use that arm. Before he punches, he always blinks twice; wait until you see him blink, then dodge to the left—when you do that, hit him as hard as you can in the throat. He'll be disoriented, so take him out as quickly as you can, okay?"

Nikki nodded, taking a deep breath to settle her nerves.

"Today girls," Eric snapped, the irritation noticeable in his tone.

Isabelle ignored the leader and she smiled reassuringly at her friend, "good luck."

Nikki nodded again as she unlaced her shoes and placed them on the side before jumping into the ring. Isabelle walked back over to Mattie and Warsan, crossing her arms over her chest. Nikki was a strong fighter and adapt to learning how to take control of the situation, so Isabelle knew that she could overtake Avicus.

The brunette glanced up at Eric only to find him simpering at her, so Isabelle glared at him in turn, hoping that he could see how angry he had made her once again. He merely chuckled to himself before turning his attention to Avicus and Nikki in the ring. Isabelle thought it was a low blow on Eric's part to make Nikki face her attacker after what he had tried to do to her, but after thinking about it it started to make sense. This was time for Nikki to extract her revenge on the black-haired fiend. To be honest, Isabelle was looking forward to fighting the boy in the ring, making him bleed and beg for mercy. _It would have to wait though, _Isabelle thought, _the time will come soon enough._

Four announced for the match to begin, his eyes also glued on the initiates. The two stood facing each other, their forearms up in a blocking position as they encircled each other like sharks circling their prey. Avicus jerked towards Nikki, but didn't attack yet. The girl still stumbled back, causing her opponent to laugh.

Nikki didn't care as she concentrated all of her attention on Avicus' face, waiting for him to blink. He took a few steps closer to Nikki, but this time she stood her ground. Just then, she saw it, Avicus blinked twice just before he cocked his right arm back slightly as he prepared to strike. Nikki dodged the punch in the nick of time as she stepped to the left; before he could counter attack, Nikki had already moved in and punched Avicus straight in the neck, causing him to grasp his throat as he fell to one knee from the mere force of the punch.

With him vulnerable, Nikki spun and kicked the dark-haired boy right in the jaw; he fell to the floor, his head smacking hard against the floor as a tooth flew out to land beside his open mouth, blood dripping down from his lips onto the mat below him. Nikki stood in a defensive position as the boy stood slowly, wiping the blood from his mouth. He rushed Nikki in blind fury, only to have her sweep kick under his legs, causing him to fall once again. This time he landed on his ass.

Nikki didn't hesitate to get behind Avicus as she locked her arm around his neck, grabbing her wrist with her other hand as she began to suffocate the boy with her biceps. He tried to reach up and get a grip on the girl's arm, but she used her foot to pin his wrist against the mat in a quick and forceful motion—if he could've, Avicus wouldn't let out a painful scream. His face started to turn red as he struggled in the girl's grasp, but Nikki continued to squeeze with all her might.

"Alright, that's enough." Four said suddenly, getting the attention of everyone in the room. "Nikki wins this match."

Reluctantly, Nikki released Avicus from her hold. He fell forward, only barely able to support himself against the floor as he choked for air, the color slowly returning to his face. The blonde stood and made her way out of the ring, grabbing her shoes and striding over to her group of friends with a satisfied grin.

Eric looked a little taken back at the results of the match, surprised that Nikki was able to take Avicus down in such a short period of time. He glanced over at Isabelle who was smirking at him, her arms still crossed over her chest. He furrowed his brows at her, which only made her smirk broadened. _How do you like that, Eric? _She thought playfully at the leader.

"Good job, Nikki." The brunette said to her friend as she stood besides her, retying her shoelaces.

"Thanks for that tip," she whispered to Isabelle, giving her a wink, "but I don't think Eric is very pleased about it."

Isabelle scoffed, breaking into a smile, "Eric can go fuck himself. I'm just glad you made it out without a scratch."

"Same here," Nikki laughed. "It felt really good to fuck him up a bit—Avicus, I mean. Did you feel this good when you beat the shit out of him?"

The brunette nodded in agreement, still smiling at the blonde, "More than words could describe."

The rest of the matches went well. Warsan was able to defeat Sido in the fight, which would definitely help him when the new rankings would be posted. Mattie's match ended in a tie against JD, meaning that she would wouldn't move too far in the listing. Eric had deliberately made Isabelle's match against Virgil the very last one of the day, his own little revenge against Isabelle for helping Nikki win her fight.

The brunette almost lost her match against the red-haired beauty, but at the last minute she was able to jump up, wrapping her legs around Virgil's neck as she held onto his knees, using her weight to bring the boy down, wrapping her thighs around his pretty little neck—almost like what Nikki had done to Avicus earlier that day. Virgil conceded before he lost consciousness, resulting in Isabelle's victory and her rise in the ranks. Eric was conflicted with feeling pride in her continuous success and frustration in her newly found rebelliousness.


	8. Chapter 7

That night, as Isabelle drifted into a peaceful sleep, her subconscious couldn't help but replay the events of the Choosing Ceremony some six in-a-half weeks earlier...

_Isabelle glanced in the mirror as she fixed her long, dark hair into a side braid_ so that it was out of her face_, placing it over her left shoulder. Her eyes flickered up so that she stared at her own reflection in the full-length mirror, examining her outfit carefully. She had picked out a white, button-up blouse that seemed simple but she dressed it up with a navy blue blazer and matching pencil skirt. Her navy flats would provide some comfort for her walk to the Choosing Ceremony at the Hub._

_The girl took a deep breath, watching her own chest rise and fall in the mirror. Today was a big day, the most important of her life and yet she didn__'__t know what to do. Isabelle__'__s mind was racing, remembering the results of the aptitude test from the other day__—__Dauntless. Dauntless, how could she have possibly gotten such a result? Thinking back on the choices she was presented with during the simulation, Isabelle realized that she had chosen the knife over the cheese, but she was hesitant, resulting in the rabid dog appearing out of nowhere to attack her. Of course she chose the knife, she thought that her life was in danger when she heard Janine Matthews voice telling her to choose. If she would__'__ve known that the entire thing was simply a simulation, something that wasn__'__t real and couldn__'__t harm her, Isabelle wouldn__'__t have chosen the knife__… __or would she?_

_Now as she thought about it, Isabelle wasn__'__t sure if she would choose the cheese over the knife if she knew the simulation wasn__'__t real. It wasn__'__t just that choice though that made her question her own actions. After the dog had appeared, so did a small child__—__a crying boy in raggedy clothes. The dog spotted the boy and ran after him, causing the child to run for his life. Isabelle called out before slipping her shoe off and throwing it at the dog. The canine turned his attention to the Erudite girl and sprinted towards her, but Isabelle didn__'__t back down. For some odd reason she stood with knife in hand and waited for the attack; just as the dog pounced on her, Isabelle raised her knife. As the blade penetrated the dog's fur and flesh, she jolted awake from the simulation. _

_In the real world, Isabelle could never imagine herself having enough courage to kill a rabid dog that was attacking anyone, so why did she do it in the simulation? She had read a study once that explained how a person__'__s first instinct to do something was a reflection of who they truly were__—__that if someone was pretending to be someone they weren__'__t, that in a life and death situation, they would show their true colors due to automatic, natural behaviors and instincts. So did that mean that Isabelle__'__s test results were accurate when it said she was Dauntless?_

_Did Isabelle had what it took to be brave? In all honesty, she didn__'__t think so. Isabelle wasn__'__t known to be the brave one__—__she never spoke out of turn, she didn__'__t defy orders, nor did she partake in rowdy activities; she wanted to, when her friends and peers had asked her to join in on some fun, but she always refused, not wanting to get in trouble with her mother. Ever since her father was killed in an accident some few years back, Isabelle never wanted to disappoint her mother. Isabelle figured that her mother had suffered enough already and that by doing what she really wanted to, she__'__d only add to the hurt that her mother already felt. But now that her mother had passed earlier in the year, Isabelle was ready to start living her life the way she wanted to. _

_A small smile crept on Isabelle__'__s lips as she thought about her mother, her beautiful, smart, mother to whom she was very close. Her death was sudden, from a well-kept diagnosis of some illness the girl didn't quite understand, even at her age; Isabelle__'__s mother hid her failing health from her only child for as long as she could because she didn__'__t want sweet, kind Isabelle to worry about her sickly mother when in less than a years time, Isabelle would probably not even be with her in Erudite. Her mother always knew that Erudite was not the faction for Isabelle, thinking that one day she__'__d be an Amity or an Abnegation because of her kind and caring nature, but she didn__'__t really know Isabelle__—__not entirely, at least._

_Isabelle found out eventually about her mother's condition, but couldn't do anything to save her. Now Isabelle lived with her aunt Patricia, the sister of her deceased father. The woman worked as a teacher in the city__'__s best school, which was conveniently located on Erudite soil. Patricia wasn__'__t particularly warm and welcoming when she became the legal guardian of the orphaned girl. Finding her brother__'__s death suspicious, she didn__'__t trust her sister-in-law or her niece, so ill-feelings were harbored against the girl. Isabelle didn__'__t seem to mind though since she__'__d only be staying with her aunt for a few months up until now when she__'__d choose her new faction. _

"_Isabelle!__" __The woman__'__s voice ran throughout the apartment, __"__it's time to go.__"_

_Looking at the mirror one last time, Isabelle made sure that she looked decent enough__—__presentable to represent her faction for the last time. Turning, Isabelle made her way out of her room and into the foyer of the apartment where her aunt stood, also in blue although the shade she wore was a bit lighter than that of her niece. _

_Without another word, the two were off to the Hub for the ceremony. The walk was silent, but Isabelle was grateful for it since her mind was still racing with the decision that she would soon have to make. Growing up Isabelle knew her mother had wanted her to remain Erudite, but towards the end of her mother__'__s life, Isabelle started to question the truth of what her mother wanted for her only daughter. Isabelle was willing to stay in Erudite in order to take care of her mother, but when she knew the inevitable__—__that her mother would soon pass__—__then Isabelle started to question herself and what she wanted to do for the rest of her own life._

_Now that her mother was gone, there was nothing left for Isabelle here in Erudite, only painful memories of her past, so this faction was no longer an option. It wasn__'__t so easy to try and eliminate any other faction from her possibilities as Isabelle was unsure of who she was. Being sixteen, nearly seventeen, the world hadn__'__t offered many options for the girl to discover what she wanted to do with her life. A heavy feeling burrowed itself within Isabelle__'__s stomach, the overwhelming sensation of dread coursed through her at the notion that she would have to make a single choice that would ultimately determine her future. The girl was torn, not knowing which faction to choose from. Even though she was born an Erudite and her test had resulted in Dauntless, she still had the choice to pick the other three factions if she so desired__—__but what was it she desired? Isabelle didn__'__t have a clue._

_The two women had made it to the Hub in no time and they quickly found their way to two empty seats at the end of the aisle amongst the sea of blue where the rest of their faction sat. As Isabelle took her seat, her eyes wandered over the space of the large room where representatives and kids around Isabelle__'__s age sat according to their faction at either side of the Erudite section. The space in front of her was open in a semi-circle, as a small table was stationed in the middle with five bowls to represent the five factions; there was also a podium besides the table for the coordinator to conduct the ceremony. _

_This year it was Erudite to host the ceremony and it was none other than Jeanine Matthews who would conduct the entire thing, a great pride for the faction. The year before it was Candor and Isabelle had heard rumors that the ceremony didn__'__t go as smoothly as it normally did since the people from that faction liked to open their mouths. It was needless to say that there was some drama and tension last year between Candor and the other factions, especially Dauntless. _

_Speaking of the devil, Jeanine appeared at the top of the aisle as she made her way down the aisle. She observed all the soon-to-be initiates as they took their seats in their respected factions, a clipboard in her hands as she slowly took step after step. As she reached the middle of the Erudite faction, Jeanine__'__s blue eyes found themselves at the attention of the brunette girl and her aunt._

"_Patricia, it's __good to see you__—__and Isabelle,__" __she said softly, but there was still an eloquent poise to it, making the girl look up at the leader. Both Isabelle and her aunt stood, showing respect for the most revered leader of their faction.__"__I almost forgot you are of age. I__'__m glad to see that you__'__re here.__"_

"_Thank you, ma__'__am.__"_

"_Jeanine_—_please.__" __She reassured with a sly smile. _

_Isabelle smiled back, __"__Jeanine, thank you.__"_

_Jeanine__'__s smile fell slightly as she spoke quietly, but steadily, __"__I__'__m sorry about your mother. She was a good woman and she is greatly missed by those at the Archives_—especially by Mrs. Lowenthall_. Your mother was an essential member to our community and her loss is noted in the department. It seems that your mother kept that place in order and without her they are falling quite behind on their duties.__"_

_The girl lowered her head as her eyes began to water slightly, __"__thank you, Jeanine. My mother enjoyed working for the Archives; it brought her much joy and pride to work for the faction in such a respectable department.__"_

_Quickly the woman changed the subject, not accustomed to such sentimental feelings, __"__So, are you excited about the ceremony? I assume your test went smoothly, yes?__"_

_Isabelle hesitated for a moment, thinking of an appropriate response to the leader__'__s question. __"__It did, but I__'__m not exactly confident in my results.__"_

_The blonde woman furrowed her brows as she slightly tilted her head to the side, __"__what do you mean? Nothing went wrong I hope.__" __Jeanine looked very concerned as she spoke, her eyes never leaving the brunette as she watched for any changes in the girl__'__s facial expressions and body language. They had been hunting divergents for a few years now without the public knowing, so Jeanine was always trying to stay aware of any potential signs of them. _

"_No,__" __Isabelle reassured, __"__I__'__m just surprised by my result is all__—__and because of it I__'__m pretty conflicted on which faction to choose.__"_

_Jeanine__'__s expression softened, a small smile gracing her pretty face as she placed a manicured hand on the girl__'__s shoulder. __"__Believe it or not, this is extremely common, Isabelle. In a situation like this, all you have to do is make a choice that will benefit you the most based on what you know about yourself. The aptitude test is simply a guide to help lead you in the right direction__—__it is in no way a test that dictates what you have to do. And just know that whatever choice you make, your mother would be very proud of you.__"_

_Isabelle nodded, understand what Jeanine was saying as she thanked the leader for her kind words. Jeanine looked down at her watch and excused herself, stating that the ceremony was so start shortly before she made her way down the aisle and towards the stadium to go over her notes. Isabelle and her aunt sat as they waited patiently. Jeanine__'__s words did comfort the girl a bit, but she was still unsure of what decision she should make. _

_The ceremony was now underway as Jeanine welcomed everyone for this special day. She gave a grand and elegant speech about how the journey that each initiate was about to embark on was a unique one; some might find the transition into their faction an easy one, others might struggle, but the key was to remain confident and positive in oneself. She then spoke about how they were all so privileged to be taking apart of such a tremendous tradition. She wished the soon-to-be initiates the best in their future training as well as the factions to be role models for everyone else. _

_She then spoke briefly about how important it was to choose the correct faction that was best suited for each individual that was of age. She explained how even if you were born in a faction, that if you felt that it wasn__'__t the best place for you, that you felt you couldn__'__t reach your full potential there, then that faction wasn__'__t right for you. The best way to choose a faction was based on how well it would help you grow to be the person you were destined to become; making the wrong choice now would only pull you down and eventually it will become too overbearing to deal with._

"_We begin with Erudite,__" __Jeanine spoke clearly to the crowd, making sure to make eye contact with certain people in the sea of blue. __"__Erudite was formed by those who blamed human ignorance for the faults of society. The founders of our new society formed Erudite as a way of eliminating ignorance and darkness from human minds. Our manifesto states: 'Ignorance' is defined not as stupidity but as lack of knowledge. The lack of knowledge inevitably leads to the lack of understanding. Lack of understanding leads to a disconnect among people with differences. Disconnection among people with differences leads to conflict. And finally, knowledge is the only logical solution to the problem of conflict. Therefore, we propose that in order to eliminate conflict, we must eliminate the disconnect among those with differences by correcting the lack of understanding that arises from ignorance with knowledge."_

_After the manifesto was read, Jeanine Matthews started to read the list of names in reverse alphabetical order. Warsan Verma was the first Erudite to be called. He approached the table and picked the shining, chrome knife from the small place before he sliced the side of his palm and letting his blood drip over the hot coals of Dauntless. Jeanine announced his decision to the audience and Dauntless cheered, standing up and giving a loud round of applause as Warsan made him way over to them. _

_Jeanine then called his sister, Navea Verma. She stood at the table and just as confidently as her brother, drew blood from her hand and allowed it to fall into the bowl of water. Jeanine smiled and announced that the girl chose to stay with her faction. The Verma parents looked very pleased with their daughters result. Name after name was called; most of the kids stayed with Erudite, with only a small portion choosing a different faction, mostly deciding to go to either Candor or Amity. With each person called up to the table, the feeling of dread had returned, creeping into her bones once again. Jeanine__'__s words of advice were encouraging, but as her time approached, it became harder and header to believe them._

"_Isabelle Lujan,__" __the Erudite leader announced suddenly, causing Isabelle to snap out of her pondering. The girl stood slowly as all eyes in the room landed on her. She took a deep breath before descending down the aisle, walking up the small set of stairs until she was on the stage before the table with five bowls. _

_Analyzing each bowl and their contents, Isabelle tried to quickly decide which faction would be the best choice for her. Despite being born and raised here, Isabelle knew that Erudite was not right for her. Candor was a good option, seeing that they valued honesty above all and Isabelle thought herself to be a truthful person. Amity was another good choice since they despised war; Isabelle had study plenty of wars in school and like the people of Amity, she hated the destruction it caused. Being from Erudite, Isabelle had heard the rumors about Abnegation and how __"__selfless__" __they really were; she grew up harboring an inherited distrust towards the faction, so Abnegation was out of the question. _

_And finally, there was Dauntless. As Isabelle stared at the hot coals that burned fiercely in the bowl, she couldn__'__t help but feel strangely drawn to the faction. There was something intriguing about the idea of protecting people, of being brave in the face of danger when others coward in fear. There was a certain amount of respect that was given to the people of Dauntless for the crazy things they did to ensure the safety of the city. Suddenly, Isabelle understood why she had received the results she did. It started to make sense._

_Isabelle grabbed the blade from the plate and pricked her finger, watching the crimson blood ooze from her small wound. With her eyes still strained on her bleeding finger, she raised her hand above the bowl and watched as the droplet of blood fell from her wound as it landed on a single coal, the liquid quickly evaporated due to the intense temperature of the fiery coals._

_Dauntless erupted in applause and cheers, glad to add another initiate to their faction. Isabelle smiled hesitantly as she made her way over to the faction who wore black. Before she made it to her new seat, Isabelle looked up at her aunt who was grinning down at the girl, happy to be finally rid of her niece of whom the root of her suspicions lie. As Isabelle took a seat amongst her new faction members, she was welcomed with pats on the back, high-fives, and hand shakes. Never in her life had Isabelle felt so welcomed by complete strangers__—__it was slightly refreshing. _

_After she had chosen her new faction, the ceremony seemed to continue rather quickly. It was over with a few hours later and Isabelle, along with the other initiates, were ushered out of the building as they made their way towards the train that was rapidly approaching. This was her new life, Isabelle thought with a small smile, and now she had to make the best of it._

There was a loud commotion outside of the initiate's living quarters, coaxing Isabelle out of her sleep suddenly. She rubbed her eyes as she yawned, the sounds of hurried footsteps rushed past the door, their boots stomped heavily against the stone floors outside. She looked up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was nearly two hours before the initiates were to get up, and nearly an hour before she and her three friends would get up for their own early morning training. Slowly, the girl stood and made her way up the small set of stairs, but the guard that was stationed in the room, because of Avicus, called out to her quietly. She just told him that she was going to see what was going on. He hesitated, but allowed her to do so, instructing her not to interfere with the soldiers. She agreed before opening the door only a crack to peer outside.

She saw the large group of Dauntless in their swat gear: bullet proof vests, knee and elbow pads, and holsters for their multiple guns and other weapons, which included knives and grenades. Group after group of Dauntless soldiers and guards rushed down the halls as leaders trailed in front and behind them.

Isabelle got a glance of the tall, blond leader as he approached with his group of soldiers, leading the pack with an automatic weapon in hand. _Of course he was,_ she thought to herself as she stepped out from the living quarters and into the hall, closing the door behind her. As Eric passed by, Isabelle stepped forward and followed at his side, much to his surprise.

"Eric, what's going on? What's with the swarm of soldiers this early in the morning?"

He sighed heavily, grabbing Isabelle by the arm and pulling her to the side as he ordered his group of soldiers to continue up to the surface, instructing them to wait for him up there. They did as they were told and continued their march up out of the Dauntless compound. Eric looked down at the girl, seeing the concern in her eyes.

"There was an incident near the edge of the city, so we were called to sort it out. That's all I'm allowed to tell you, Isabelle."

"How long will you be gone?"

"No idea," he replied honestly. "But just in case we don't come back in time, training is cancelled until further notice. Inform the other initiates."

"What are we to do while you're away?"

"Do whatever you want, just stay on the compound; I know some of you are curious little shits, so ensure no one leaves or else I'll have your head. I'm leaving you in charge of the transfers until we return. Got it?"

Isabelle nodded, unsure if she was ready for such responsibility. Eric nodded in turn as he dismissed Isabelle. For some odd reason she wished him to stay safe—as soon as they words left her mouth she regretted it, feeling a blush appear on her cheeks before she turned around and made her way back to her living quarters. Eric, needless to say, was a little taken back by her words, but found them amusing in a genuine way. No one had wished him to stay safe since he left Erudite in order to join Dauntless nearly two years back.

As Isabelle closed the door behind her, she found herself at the attention of nearly every transfer as they sat up in their beds, their eyes glued on the brunette.

Mattie was the first to question the girl, "What's all that about?" She asked, nodding towards the door.

"There's been an disturbance in the city, so the soldiers of Dauntless were been called to respond to it."

"How do you know that?" a voice called out from the back of the room.

"I just got done talking with Eric. He says that training has been cancelled for the day and he wants everyone to stay on the compound until the leaders and soldiers return. Eric said you can do what you wish, but the leaders demand that you don't leave the premises for your own safety."

"When will they be back?"

"I don't know."

The other initiates continued to ask questions and Isabelle answered them the best she could, but after a few minutes they had run out of questions and Isabelle had run out of answers. They all went back to bed, enjoying the freedom they had to sleep in for once. Isabelle slipped back into her bed, but found that sleep would not come to her. As she lay with her arms behind her head for support, Isabelle thought about what she'd do with her free day.


	9. Chapter 8

Eric stood stoically as he leaned against the door of the train as it rattled down the tracks, peering out into the city as the buildings created silhouettes along the dark, navy blue sky. The city seemed so different at such an hour so early in the morning, Eric noticed; the streets were almost completely desolate, only a few people walking among them in order to get to their jobs, the jobs that seemed so mediocre and unfulfilling to Eric. The blond scoffed at the thought of having to get up this early in the morning to go to a job that wasn't he only sounds was that of the train as it roared down the line on the newly furbished tracks. The sky was dark and no starts twinkled above, a luxury long lost to the city but the people didn't seem to mind.

Down the line towards their destination, the leader could see black smoke billowing up above some of the buildings near the Abnegation compound in the early morning darkness. He cursed under his breath, thinking it was too early in the morning for something like this to be happening. He should be in bed, or at least working out in the private gym back at his apartment, not in the middle of the city as he was about to potentially risk his life and those of his men. He knew it was going to be a long day and he'd probably need a drink or two after this was all over and done with. With the smell of the smoke leaking into the train's cracks, Eric could already feel a massive migraine start to form, the painful sensations of pins poking into his forehead.

This would've been the perfect opportunity to take the initiates with the soldiers as a learning experience, but they were not yet at the level of training that would benefit them in the field; _most of them would probably freeze in the middle of danger and put the operation at risk, _Eric thought to himself as he continued to stare out the window, his eyes analyzing the landscape of the city_. _The leaders had tried that once before a year before, bringing the initiates with them on a field mission, but the results proved disastrous; half of the younglings weren't skilled enough to be able to spot the difference between a target and a civilian, nor were they able to quickly decide the best course of action under the immense amount of pressure that they were in—being suddenly dropped into a war zone. It was one of the worst decisions the Dauntless leaders had made, but they thought it would be an advantage for the initiates to see first hand some of the situations they would be thrown into at a moments notice—they thought wrong.

The sun was barely up and here he was with nearly half of Dauntless' soldiers, responding to a threat within the city. This was a horrible time for such an event to occur, wishing that it wasn't taking place in the middle of initiation—he had enough to worry about with the black-haired, sexual offender and the brunette girl who reeked of ethical justice against said offender. Eric couldn't help but think that she was something else, Isabelle. In the six-in-a-half week period she'd been in training, he noticed that Isabelle had improved immensely, much more so than some of her peers. But it wasn't only her physical abilities that had improved since she arrived, but he could see the changes in her personality as well. She was once more reserved and timid, now she stood with confidence in her own abilities—not afraid to back down from almost anything. She was finding her voice and she was learning how to use it to her advantage. Eric had noticed that the girl was planning something unscrupulous; he had noted that she whispered deviously to her three friends, eyeing the dark-haired boy with malice filled eyes during training, not to mention that she had helped Nikki defeat Avicus the other day during matches. Oh yes, Eric had observed that. Four wasn't as suspicious of the girl, but the blond had every right to be—he saw the fire in the deep pools of her hazel eyes, so different from what he had first known them to be.

It wasn't only Eric who noticed her improvements, but Four and Max as well. Four wasn't nearly as surprised in Isabelle's abilities as Eric initially was. The other instructor had seen many initiates who didn't quite seem to fit the Dauntless standards at first quickly came to prove everyone wrong; those were his favorite initiates. He himself was a prime example: a child of Abnegation who rose to become one of Dauntless' best soldiers and most valued members. A boy stemmed from abuse and selflessness was able to make a name for himself in a well-respected faction for being fearless.

Isabelle's friends also had potential in becoming great members of Dauntless, especially Warsan. Eric noted that if the boy didn't mess around and took his training a little more seriously than he already had, then he could become one of the greatest leaders Dauntless has ever seen. The boy was strong and cunning, so using it to his advantage would offer great advantage to him as a member of the faction if he were to pass initiation. As of late, Warsan was starting to take the initiation process pensively, not allowing to subjugate himself to his own pride.

That was the problem with Avicus, Eric noted. He was too full of himself—too cocky for his own good and that's why was starting to pay the consequences for such actions and attitudes. Avicus could be a decent competitor, one of the strongest among the transfers even, but Isabelle was right about him—he wasn't Dauntless material. He was sadistic and enjoying causing as much suffering as he possibly could for his own damn amusement. He picked on the weakling because he knew they were feeble and that he could over-power them; that wasn't brave, that wasn't something worth noticing in someone's character—it was predicable and insulting to those who challenged themselves to do better. Being a predator _could_ be considered good in Dauntless, but not when it endangered innocent people.

Now, Eric knew that he could be sadistic, and a bully as well, but most of the things he did—especially to the initiates during training—was for their own damn good. Yes, he humiliated them, and he pushed them to their limits, and he called them out in front of everyone else, but he did it because he needed to know who was weak and who had potential. Eric needed to know who the all-stars were and who the underdogs were. He needed to find out who were the ones to break under pressure, who were the ones who could take orders—and who could give them. He was training potential soldiers and leaders, training the future of his faction who were supposed to be brave enough to protect the city and its people. He didn't want to waste his time on kids who were goofing around or who didn't respect the faction and their way of life, especially when there were lives at stake, even if Eric was merely thinking about the future.

"Eric? Eric, come in. Over." the voice on his earpiece said suddenly, snapping the leader out of his thoughts. Eric placed a finger on the earpiece to press it harder into his ear to hear the voice better. It was Four.

"I hear you, Four. Over."

"We're about to reach the outskirts of the compound. Max has established that'll he'll take the North side of the area. He's assigned me the East side, Angelique the West side, and you have the South side of the compound. We make our way towards the center of the settlement until all sources of danger are extinguished. All factionless are to be taken out, that is a direct order. Over?"

"Understood. Over."

Eric stood straight as he touched the earpiece one more time, ending the call to his peer. Glancing out the window, Eric noticed they approached their destination, only to be there in a few moments, so he moved to the front of his car as he faced the soldiers who stood before him.

"Attention!" His voice roared within the confined space, "we will reach the Abnegation compound any moment now, where just outside of it's borders the threat lies within it." Eric took a deep breath as he watched the soldiers sharply. "We have been called in because a large group of factionless have rioted within the compound and they are threatening the safety of the people in Abnegation. We are to go in and take out any threat to the people's safety. All factionless on the compound will be shot and killed for disobeying our laws. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers said in unison.

"Good, prepare for dispatch!"

The soldiers did as they were told and prepared themselves, holding their guns with steady hands as they turned the safety off and checking the ammunition. Eric did the same as he checked his own weapon as well as making sure his different grenades and knives were all in place, everything set to be used if train slowed to a stop, signaling Eric to ready himself for their mission, taking a deep breath before exiting the car, jumping off onto the soft grass that surrounded the Abnegation compound. He took a quick glance around, trying to get an idea of where the factionless rioters were; the smell of smoke was thick and Eric's eyes started to burn, watering up slightly but he blinked the burning sensation away.

He turned his head and saw Four exit the train as well. The other leader caught a glimpse at his blond counterpart and nodded, acknowledging for them to begin the mission. Although the two needed to work together in order to successfully carry out the mission, Eric didn't think that Four should've been there with him and the other leaders. Four wasn't one of them, he worked in intelligence and was an instructor. Four hadn't earned his stripes yet. Eric earned it. Max earned it. Even Angelique and Ashur had earned it, all while Four hadn't. But he was a favorite amongst the higher up's, so Eric couldn't do anything about it.

Ignoring that train of thought, Eric ordered for his men to follow suit. They all obeyed, jumping two at a time out of the train to trail their leader. Once everyone was out, Eric started to make his way towards the South end of the Abnegation compound with his soldiers devotedly behind him. Despite being a large group of about twenty soldiers, they were quiet as they stalked the area, their steps not making a sound. This is where the stealth aspect of training played a key role in real world situations. Eric wished the initiates could see this, the mission. During training, he taught them each skill separately, but in the field, in real life, skills blended together—stealth and firearms, agility and knife throwing, endurance and hand-to-hand combat. They needed it all to survive and the initiates needed to learn that if they wanted to become Dauntless. It wasn't a game. It wasn't a right. Being able to be called Dauntless was a privilege, it was a proud achievement, and needed to be earned. Some of the initiates still didn't understand that.

As they got closer and closer to the compound, the smoke around them increased as they could hear the crackling roar of the fire that had started somewhere within the faction, most likely by the rioters. The gray and black smoke rose up above the buildings and houses on the compound before spreading out into the open air. Eric turned his head to glance over his shoulder, making sure his men were close behind. As they finally made it to the South side, the sounds of gunfire rang out through the space, causing the leader and his troops to search the surrounding area for any signs of conflict or targets as they raised their guns, ready to shoot. When none were found, they persisted into the compound, continuing with their rifles up.

Upon rounding a corner, there was an Abnegation woman and her child, running through the street frantically. Eric commanded his men to hold their fire before turning to the woman. He ordered her to go back to her home immediately as it wasn't safe for her to be out. She said she couldn't as her house was in the middle of where the riots were happening and she left because she feared for her child. Eric nodded at ordered one of his soldiers, Tig, to escort the woman and her kid to safety. Taking the two, Tig lead them out of the area and towards the train where he knew they would be fine and out of harms way until the mission was over.

As the three of them disappeared behind the corner of the street the soldiers had just walked down, the gun shots resumed, so Eric split his team up as each took soldier found a safe spot to take a defensive stance, scoping out the area while remaining hidden from view behind buildings and homes. Eric was stationed behind one of the buildings with one of his most experienced soldiers, Ion. Eric stood while the other was crouched down on one knee, both of them using the wall of the building for support and protection.

After a moment, a small group of factionless came into sight as they marched from the west; Eric noticed that some of them had guns while others had makeshift knives and bombs. The leader turned to the rest of his men and gave them a hand gesture, signaling them to be ready—they all nodded. The blond then raised his gun, closing his left eye as he aimed for one of the factionless in towards the front of the group who held a machete in one hand and a homemade grenade in the other; he looked like the leader as he rallied the group, making them cheer in a sicking commotion.

Eric took a deep breath as he kept his target in sight; it wasn't long before he pulled the trigger. Once the first shot had fired, the body of the factionless man fell to the ground, a gory hole left in the middle of his head; the soldiers didn't waste any time as they followed suit, firing upon the confused and baffled group of factionless rioters. One by one bodies fell to the ground, some needing more than a single bullet to do so. The sound of continuous, rapid gunfire echoed through the air for only a few seconds before the commotion started to die down.

Once the last body hit the ground, Eric ordered a ceasefire. He looked up from his rifle and examined the area, his cold eyes focusing on the bodies that littered the ground like trash. When he felt that there was no danger, Eric moved away from his spot behind the building and made his way over to the massacred factionless. He walked over their dead corpses, feeling the oozing sensation of blood beneath his boots as he took each step, walking through the slick grass that was covered with the crimson fluid like early morning dew; he nudged some corpses with his boot as he sought out any survivors without even thinking of what he had done to them—their bodies rattled with bullet holes. He didn't see them as people, he never did. How could they be when they were forcing their way into an innocent faction and causing so much damage without a second thought? These weren't people, Eric thought, they were animals that needed to be put _down_. Finding no survivors, he ordered his men to keep moving, continuing on their path towards the center of the compound to meet up with the other leaders and their soldiers.

Cautiously, Eric's men moved quickly through the South end of the settlement. With each encounter with small groups of factionless, the soldiers had fired upon them without hesitation. In some instances, when the factionless seemed to be better equipped with weapons, the Dauntless would throw smoke grenades at the rioters. With the factionless disoriented, it was easier for Eric's men to take them down without much of a struggle.

As they got closer to the center of the compound, the waves of factionless came quicker than the last, with more added to the group each time. The soldiers were on their feet though and stayed vigilant as they took out the targets that came from every direction. On the fourth wave of factionless, two of Eric's men got shot by an outdated, homemade gun while three others were blown up by makeshift grenades. Eric didn't take that lightheartedly as he pushed back the enemy line with his warriors at his side, killing every single factionless member without hesitation and with brute force. Eric didn't like losing men. He didn't like the fleeting sense of guilt in the back of his mind at the mere thought of it. But it made him more determined to successfully complete the mission without losing any more soldiers; he wouldn't allow it.

By the sixth wave of factionless rioters, Eric had grown tired of such games. Luckily it was the last group as Eric's team made it to the center of the compound where Max and his men were already there, holding down the fort. Eric ordered his men to secure the area, spreading out and taking their defensive stance, ready for another attack by the factionless.

Eric strode over to Max and explained that the South side of the settlement was clear and that all factionless had been taken out. Max gave a curt nod, not having any words after all the blood that had been spilt on Abnegation soil. About an hour later, Four's team had arrived. Eric noticed that his group looked a bit smaller as well, registering the worst in his mind. He informed the other two leaders that his group had put out the fire that was ravishing the East side of the compound, but it had only damaged two buildings; the others were perfectly fine and no one was harmed, being evacuated from the area in the nick of time. About an hour and a half later, Angelique's team turned up to the safe point; she didn't look too pleased as there was a gushing wound on her forehead that was oozing blood, nearly blinding her left eye. She said she was fine, that the wound was a fresh one and that she just needed it cleaned and stitched up.

After regrouping and affirming that all of the factionless had been taken care of, the leaders and Four took their leave with their soldiers trailing behind them faithfully. As they ventured through the seemingly empty compound, the soldiers recollected their dead, ready to take them back to Dauntless for a proper burial before they would celebrate those who lost their lives and for completing the mission. When Eric arrived at the train, he saw Tig with the woman and child as he still guarded her. Eric told his soldier that the compound was clear, so they allowed the woman to leave. She thanked them before walking away with her kid.

As the Dauntless boarded the train to go home, Eric momentarily glanced up at the sky, noticing that he didn't even realize that it had turned from navy blue to the beautiful robin's egg color it was now with not a single cloud to be seen. He thought about how astonishing it was that something so beautiful like the color of the sky could be present during something horrible like a bloody massacre, the extermination of a people. It was strange to think that something beautiful and something ugly could be found within the same circumstance, yet be so clearly drawn apart, so unrelated. Beauty and disaster were seemingly often interwoven with each other, Eric noticed, especially when humanity remained at fault. But as he looked far out into the horizon, he could see the creeping navy blue color of the sky that indicated that night would soon be here.

Without another thought on the subject, Eric jumped onto the train, leaving the mess of the factionless massacre behind with the rubble of the compound—and far from mind.


	10. Chapter 9

_**Author's note:**_** Hey, I just want to thank everyone who's read the story and has liked it so far, especially those who follow and review it! I'm very grateful and I'm extremely happy that so many people like it. Just as a note, I'm going on vacation next week so I won't update at all next week, but the story will resume when I get back. Thank you all again and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

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><p>Back at the Dauntless compound before breakfast, Isabelle and Artemis, along with another Dauntless born Isabelle didn't know by name, had decided to gather the initiates—both transfers and Dauntless born alike—to train themselves while the instructors and leaders were away, since they really had nothing better to do. As Isabelle was in charge of the transfers, she had told them earlier that morning that they could do whatever they pleased... except for Avicus. She didn't give that luxury to him so she ordered the guard to keep him in the living quarters for the time being, only to be reunited with the rest of the initiates for meals, lying and saying that it was a direct order from Eric. It was needless to say that the boy was pissed, but Isabelle didn't care. She was going to use every bit of power she had to keep Avicus as miserable as possible until he was kicked out of Dauntless for good. Isabelle knew she shouldn't be abusing the small amount of power given to her like this, but it brought the girl too much joy to simply ignore the opportunity. Every little annoyance did the trick.<p>

With the leaders gone, the initiates thought it was a good idea to train together as this would be their only opportunity to do so. The training wasn't as serious as it would've been if the leaders were around; it was more like playtime as the air was filled with sportive banters and laughing, unlike the dramatic and stern atmosphere that their regular training consisted of.

And so, the initiates ran together, doing their laps while talking to one another. Isabelle had found herself in the company of one of the female Dauntless borns, a girl named Artemis. She was tall and slender, with beautiful auburn hair tied to the side in a long fishtail braid. Her eyes reminded Isabelle of the whisky her father used to drink on a summer's evening, almost honey-colored but slightly darker. Artemis was a spritely girl, nimble on her feet and with her tongue. She was quiet talkative and asked the transfer about her old life back in Erudite. Despite being a little invasive, Isabelle didn't mind. It was sort of refreshing actually, being able to talk about home. At this point in her life, it wasn't as painful to bring it up. If it were the first few weeks of training, Isabelle would've been a sobbing mess, but now, after being hardened by Eric and Four's training, it didn't hurt as much to remember and share it with others.

Artemis was completely fascinated with Isabelle's old life; it wasn't a false fascination, like a person of a higher status learning about the struggles of someone in a lower class and pitied them for it, or an obsession to learn about something that she had no knowledge of but wanted to use that information to up-one someone else. The Dauntless born was truly interested in learning about something she knew nothing about. Artemis didn't have to leave her family to be here. She didn't have to try and compete against kids who already knew the culture of the faction. She didn't have to prove to the leaders that she belonged here, because it was already a given that she was worth keeping. This was all still relatively new to Isabelle, and yet she still stood here confident—knowing that she wanted and needed to beat the odds. Artemis found great inspiration in that—in Isabelle.

The two girls took a liking to each other, enjoying the other's company during their laps. After they had finished their run, the two girls decided to continue training with one another. Isabelle's friends didn't seem to mind, thinking that it was a good idea to hang around some of the other Dauntless born in order to get tips from them and such. It wasn't only beneficial for the transfers to get pointers from their competitors, but it was also beneficial socially. It was good every once in a while to break away from your friends in order to establish new alliances and friendships; _the more the merrier_, Isabelle thought with a smile.

They did simple warm-up training then. Artemis taught Isabelle some yoga moves as both a cool-down from running and a warm-up for the rest of the day's workout. Artemis also taught the transfer some breathing exercises that would help in stressful situations or when breathing became hard after intense workouts. Isabelle enjoyed learning from the Dauntless born. It was a different experience, but it was insightful none-the-less. Training under leaders and instructors was very different from learning from another initiate—there wasn't a certain amount of pressure to get things correctly right away as there was more room to learn from mistakes. It was a very enjoyable experience for all the initiates and it was beneficial.

At eight-thirty, they broke for breakfast. Avicus joined them, but as usual he was accompanied by a guard who kept a close eye on him. He sulked at his own table and was eventually joined by Mia and Bruce—the only two initiates who would somewhat associate themselves with the violent and aggressive boy. Artemis left Isabelle to sit with her Dauntless born friends—Durro, Flot, and Nicole—allowing the brunette to spend some time with her own. As Artemis left to join her friends, Isabelle couldn't help but notice that Durro kept a lingering eye on her, a half-smile lacing his lips, resulting in a small blush to appear on the transfer's cheeks. To Isabelle, he was probably the most attractive of the initiates with his tan complexion, brown hair set in loose dreadlocks that hung just past his earlobes, and vibrant brown eyes. The girl shook off any notion of the boy as she rejoined her friends at the table.

Mattie noticed where Durro's attention lay, but didn't say anything to her friend; she merely smirked. Isabelle didn't notice. Breakfast was filled with light conversation. This was the end of the sixth week of the first stage, barely two weeks remained before the bottom five would be kicked out of Dauntless. Then after that, it was only two weeks of the second stage, and finally a single day for the final stage. In two weeks time, sixteen people would be gone, destined to become factionless for the rest of their lives. It was so close, Isabelle realized as she continued to eat her breakfast while her friends talked idly. Even if she didn't improve in her skills and matches, Isabelle would remain above the cut-off and she'd be fine—as long as she didn't do worse, she'd be fine. It was just four more weeks, she could do it. She had to.

After breakfast, some of the initiates practiced at the punching bags and knife throwing at the back of the facility while a small group of boys started to set up certain parts of the obstacle course that had been taken down previously to add more space to the warehouse. They tied the rope bridge to the pillars, double checking that they were tight and secure. They placed two sets of regular sized tires at the beginning of the course for the initiates to run through, making sure that there were ten for each set, as well as two extra large sized tires, rolling them across the warehouse to their destination. Once that was done, they walked around and ensured that all the wheels on the movable obstacles were locked.

When they had finished, one of the boys—Durro—whistled, getting nearly everyone's attention. His pretty brown eyes glistened with mischief as he waved them to come over, "Who wants to play?"

There was a lot of cheering as the large group of initiates rushed over to the obstacle course. Isabelle and Artemis were among those who ran over to see what was going on. Durro grinned as he raised his hand to settle the crowd, "Why don't we have a little contest—the transfers against the Dauntless born? Let's see who's better at the obstacle course!" The group cheered again, agreeing with the little competition that Durro had suggested. "Alright, so we'll have one person step up from one group and then a someone from the other group will challenge them; the two will then go against the other in the run. The course consists of ten obstacles, in this exact order: first we have the Stutter-step tires, followed by the cargo net climb, then the tire flip, then we have a few under and overs, hurdles, the balance beam, monkey bars, the low crawl underneath the rope bridge, rope swings, and then finally the high wall. If you fall off an obstacle, you must restart it—no exceptions. Who's first?"

It wasn't a surprise when Kathryn volunteered to go first, nor was it a surprise when Mattie challenged the blonde girl. Isabelle chuckled at the two's zeal for competition, finding it both ambitious and entertaining. The two girl's got ready, standing at the beginning of the course as they stretched their limbs. Durro acted as the referee and when they were ready, he announced for them to start.

Both girl's were neck-to-neck during the Stutter-step tires as they both made it to the cargo net climb at the same time. Mattie gained a lead as Kathryn's leg got tangled up in the net on her descent down, nearly causing the blonde to loose her grip on the net. Her cursing was audible, even above the cheers, as Mattie was the first to reach the tire flip, making her way down the appropriate distance. Kathryn was finally able to get out of the net as Mattie finished up, running over to the under and overs. Kathryn worked fiercely as she tried to make up for time lost on the cargo net. Mattie leaped over one barricade, then under one, over another, and under the last as Kathryn started the same obstacle. Being tall, the hurdles were easy for Mattie, finishing them in no time, but Kathryn wasn't too far behind. Mattie's height caused a slight problem when she reached the balance beam, trying to steady herself as she made it across the beam as quickly as possible. It was at this obstacle that Kathryn had finally found her chance to catch up with the transfer. At the monkey bars, the two were neck-to-neck once again and remained so throughout the low crawl and the rope swings. It was at the high wall where Mattie's height was once again an advantage, so at her first jump she was able to grab a hold of the top of the wall and she pulled herself up and over. When she jumped down, she ran over to the finish, out of breath at the run of the course. A few seconds later Kathryn joined in, also breathing heavy.

"And the victory goes to the transfer!" Durro exclaimed in excitement before giving his congratulations to Mattie. Kathryn acted as if she let Mattie win, saying something about how she needed to inspire the others to do better. Mattie only laughed at her fool of a friend.

Warsan was next, only to be challenged by Robbie. _Another big surprise_, Isabelle thought sarcastically with a smile. They started the course without hesitation, Warsan immediately leading of the two. Although Warsan was much smaller than his competitor, the dark-skinned boy was able to stay ahead by nearly an entire obstacle. The transfer was the best at endurance, so he was able to keep a steady pace as he zoomed right through the course. The only difficulty he had was at the hurdles and at the high wall, but still he managed to beat the blond Dauntless born as he finished first by nearly a minute and a half. Robbie didn't take his defeat as lightheartedly as his sister, but still managed to not take it too seriously.

Pair after pair, the competition went on. After Mattie and Warsan's win, the Dauntless born stepped up their game and came back with a four match winning streak, but in the seventh run, JD was able to snatch another win for the transfers. Their winning streak didn't last long as Aliyah lost her run to Axel. The score was currently 5-3 and Isabelle volunteered to go next.

"I'll take that challenge," Artemis said with a wink as she stepped forward towards the brunette, earning a smile from her as she playfully nudged the transfer with her elbow.

Durro also stepped forward, grinning at the two girls, "You got to practice with her all morning, why don't you let me go against Isabelle?"

Artemis raised her hand to Durro's chest, giving him a gentle push back, "Too bad lover-boy, I already called dibs. Besides, you're the ref and the transfers are already down one man, so you should just stay ref to keep things even, alright?"

Isabelle expected the Dauntless boy to be upset at Artemis' bluntness and retaliate against her, but the grin remained on his handsome face as he slowly backed away, "touché."

And so, the two girls took their place at the start of the course before Durro announced for them to start. With Artemis being tall and thin, she made her way through the Stutter-step tires effortlessly while Isabelle did her best to keep up. The two were equally matched at the cargo net climb, both finding it rather difficult to try and maneuver their limbs through the obstacle. Isabelle seemed to be a bit stronger than Artemis, using her the newly formed muscles in her thighs to help with the weight of the large tires as she flipped them. Artemis struggled a bit with the giant tires.

Isabelle gained a small lead over the Dauntless born as her smaller stature made it easy for her to duck underneath the barricades, but provided a small difficulty as she tried to jump over the others. The hurdles were just as much a challenge for Isabelle, but she tried her best. The two reached the balance beam at the same time and they both quickly moved across it. The girls remained tied as they reached the final obstacle: the high wall. Is knew this would be her biggest challenge given her height. Artemis was tall, but she wasn't particularly strong since she was quite thin, a lot smaller than a majority of the other girls. Artemis made it up the wall first, but she stopped to sit on top of it, regaining her breath. Isabelle took her opportunity to take a few steps back before she ran and jumped up, able to grab a hold of the wall. Quickly she pulled herself up and flung herself over the wall carefully. Artemis jumped down, nearly at the same time, and both girls ran to the finish, resulting in a tie.

"Good job, girls," Durro congratulated, his grin growing in delight.

Artemis high-fived the transfer, both girls laughing in their exhaust-fueled hysteria after their run in the course. The rest of the morning flew by as the remaining pairs faced off in the obstacle course. Isabelle and her group of friends, now including Artemis and Nicole, sat near the course as they sat and watched. They rested on the side as they judged the remainder of the initiates and their performance during the run of the course. The group of kids critiqued and examined the other initiates who did poorer than expected, laughing occasionally at the results. They didn't do so to be mean, but most of the kids who didn't do well fell of various obstacles in an overly dramatic or comedic fashion, causing them to laugh at the situation. It wasn't long before it was time to break for lunch. Just as they did before, Artemis and Nicole joined their friend Durro while Isabelle and her friends enjoyed lunch together, with the exception of Warsan who sat with Virgil and his little crew.

After lunch, the initiates held mock matches, pairing up one Dauntless born with one transfer, just as they did with the obstacle course. While Warsan had endurance, he didn't have nearly the amount of strength and power that Robbie had. The Dauntless born would obviously win the match, but he allowed Warsan to tackle him to the ground a few times as they wrestled on the mat. Their tussle was very child-like, almost resembling two brothers fighting over a toy as they rolled around on the ground, holding onto each other's shirts and using their feet to try and pry the other off of them. The two almost rolled off out of the ring more than once, but managed to keep themselves from tumbling out. The match ended with Robbie as victor, as predicted; he was able to pin Warsan facedown as he sat on the transfer's back, locking the boy's wiry arms behind him as the blond pressed Warsan's head against the mat with a smile on his handsome face.

Much like her brother, Kathryn also won her match against Mattie. Nikki, who lost against Nicole in the obstacle course, was able to win her round against the Dauntless born during the match. The fighting was fun to watch, since nobody took it too seriously. Artemis and Isabelle decided to wait until after dinner for their match, wanting to watch more than participate. Durro still acted as referee as he payed close attention to the fighting pair. Every once in a while, the boy would sneak a glance over at Isabelle. She never noticed, though, and he was kind of glad that she didn't.


	11. Chapter 10

Just as the morning seemed to fly by so did that evening. Before the initiates could even realize it, it was already time for dinner. As they all sat at the appropriate tables and started to eat their meal, the Dauntless leaders and their soldiers returned home. They marched in, the sounds of their boots echoing through the dining hall as the initiates fell silent. Some of the soldiers where covered in blood, others had splotches of it on the faces and on their uniforms, while others were fortunate enough to have stayed clean during the massacre.

The initiates watched intently as Max stepped forward, jumping up on one of the empty tables near the front of the dining hall so that all could see him clearly. Eric and Four stood at either side of the man while Angelique was taken to the infirmary to get the wound on her forehead checked out. Isabelle's eyes fell upon the blond leader, noticing that he had not been stained with blood. After a moment of scanning the room, his blue eyes found hers. She couldn't help but give Eric a small smile, glad to see that he was okay, but he didn't return one. A few other Dauntless soldiers followed behind him and placed the bodies of those who had died during the mission, their bodies wrapped in a beige shroud as they were placed before Max.

"Initiates," his voice boomed. He watched the crowd of kids as he spoke, "today some of our brothers and sister fell in the line of duty to protect the people of Abnegation from an attack led on by a group of factionless rioters. Here in Dauntless, when a member of our faction dies there is no such thing as mourning—we do not shed tears for those we have lost. Instead, we celebrate their life and their achievements; we celebrate their sacrifice. Tonight as we acknowledge our fallen friends, we honor their memory with drink and music! You are all encouraged to partake in our celebration, to show respect for those who did not make it back home."

And with that Max jumped off the table as the soldiers and Dauntless born initiates all cheered and applauded, both for their leader's words and for their deceased friends; eventually, the transfers did the same to show respect. While the leaders and their men made their way to their tables to eat for the first time that day, the soldiers who brought the bodies of the fallen Dauntless picked them back up and brought them into the cremation room, as it was tradition in the faction.

"Have you ever been down to _ECHO_?" Kathryn asked as she leaned in, a smirk was evident on her face.

"That's the nightclub here, right?" Mattie asked.

The blonde girl nodded, "Yeah, have you guys been there yet?"

The group of transfers shook their heads. Isabelle didn't even know there was a nightclub here.

Kathryn sat back in shock, her eyes wide and her jaw had dropped slightly. "Are you guys serious right now? It's almost been seven weeks and _none_ of you have been down there? You guys haven't lived until you partied at _ECHO__—_it's so much fun! There's loud music and strobe lights and laser lights and _alcohol_. It's probably Dauntless' most exclusive place; I mean anyone who's anyone goes there to have a good time. Even the leaders go there sometimes to let loose."

"So what does the _ECHO_ have to do with the funeral service tonight?" Warsan asked.

Robbie answered as his sister stuffed her face with food, "When we have funerals here, the people who run _ECHO _bring all their equipment into the Pit and we party there; there's more room for everyone to dance and celebrate than having to try and squeeze everyone into the nightclub."

"You guys will have fun," Kathryn chimed in, "it's always a blast."

The initiates decided to scoff down the remainder of their food before they left the dining hall. They quickly revisited their living quarters in order to freshen up and change into their nightlife attire. Isabelle and Mattie donned tight, black dresses while Nikki opted for a tank top and skirt, all of the girls decided on wearing heels. Isabelle's dress had a plunging neck-line, but was covered in thin mesh as were her cap sleeves; Mattie's outfit wasn't as provocative as she wore a mesh cover over her solid black dress. Warsan wore a black v-neck and slacks. Once they had finished applying their makeup and setting their hair, the group of friends followed the crowd as they made their way down to the Pit where the loud, rave-rap and industrial techno music had already started to play, causing the walls to pulsate from the intense bass.

As Isabelle peered over the rail above, she noticed that there was already a large group of people down at the Pit, most of them dancing with each other in the middle while others stood around the sides and drank, taking swigs of their beer as they swayed to the music. Isabelle watched from afar with excitement, pulling down the hem of her dress slightly in anxious anticipation, feeling her skin start to tingle. She had never seen a place so full of energy—it was like electricity in the air. Back at Erudite, funerals were very dry and boring, somber, but this was the exact opposite. Isabelle started to shake with elation, a smile growing on her face. It was amazing how all of the speakers and lights could be set up in such a short amount of time, along with stage and a booth for alcohol.

As the group of friends made their down the pathway and descended down into the Pit, the music became louder, pounding in their ears as they walked past the large speakers that were erected next to a stage where the DJ stood as she listened to the music through her over-sized headphones. Kathryn, who stood over at the side away from the dancers with her brother, waved her arms fervently to gain her friends attention. After a moment, Mattie spotted the duo and the group squeezed through the crowd in order to make it over to their friends who were already drinking.

"Glad you could make it!" Kathryn said loudly, nearly shouting in order to be heard over the loud music.

"You look great, Kathryn!" Nikki exclaimed as she noticed the blonde's tight black dress with the corset top.

"Thanks, the dress makes my boobs look good, so I thought why not?" She laughed, making her brother roll his eyes so hard Isabelle thought they'd pop right out of his skull.

"Where do we get the beers?" Warsan asked, getting straight to the point.

Robbie pointed over his shoulder to a booth, "that guy with the flaming red hair; his name's Novak and he co-owns _ECHO__—_he's got the booze_.__"_

"Anyone want one?" The dark-skinned boy asked, pointing at his friends with his long index finger.

"I'll take one," Isabelle said with an excited smile.

Mattie shook her head, "none for me right now—maybe later."

"I'll come with you," Nikki said as she and Warsan made their way through to crowd towards Novak's makeshift booth.

As the two left, Kathryn turned to the other girls, "Are you guys ready to go wild?"

Isabelle couldn't help but contain a laugh, waving her hands frantically, "I don't know about wild, but we'll see how the night goes."

"And you Mattie?"

"I'm with Isabelle on this one."

Kathryn scoffed, twisting her face into a foolish, displeased expression, "You two are boring! I bet Nikki will go wild with me."

"Then be her problem, not ours." Robbie laughed, taking a drink from his beer.

Warsan and Nikki returned a few moments later with three beers, handing Isabelle hers. She twisted the cap off and took a sip, her face immediately contorting at the bitter taste. Kathryn and Robbie laughed hysterically; obviously they were slightly tipsy already. Although she wasn't used to the taste of beer, with every sip it got a little better. Isabelle couldn't say that she'd drink this every occasion she could, but to celebrate and have some fun, it was a good start.

The group of friends stood and talked as they continued to drink their beers, the loud music pulsating around them and filling the air with life. When Robbie left to get two more drinks for him and his sister, Virgil approached the group. Warsan welcomed the red-haired boy with a handshake, pulling the other into a hug before releasing him from the friendly embrace.

"What's up Virgil?"

The redhead shrugged, his sapphire blue eyes glancing over at Mattie momentarily. "Nothing, just came by to say hi. How are you guys?" He asked the group with a nervous smile. They all responded, but found it a little odd that the boy wanted to converse with them, seeing that he usually hung out with Sido and Warsan occasionally. The redhead stood and talked to Warsan's friends for a little bit before the purpose of his friendliness came into light. "Hey Mattie, you want to dance?" He asked, still smiling nervously at the tall girl.

Mattie froze at his words, her eyes slightly wide at the sudden invitation. Slowly, but surely, the ends of her mouth curled up in an anxious grin, a small laugh escaping her lips. "Um, yeah, sure—I'd love to dance."

Virgil's smile grew as he took a hold of Mattie's hand, leading her away from her friends and into the large mass of people who were dancing in the center of the Pit. Kathryn and Nikki wolf-whistled and hollered at their friend who was obviously getting more action than the rest of them. Warsan did that same to his friend. Isabelle simply smiled, happy to find out that her friend had an admirer. The group watched as the two started to dance. Virgil held Mattie close as they swayed to the heavy music, the laser lights creating a futuristic aesthetic to the scene.

Isabelle and Nikki finished their drinks faster than they thought, so the strawberry blonde offered to grab some more. Robbie, after gaining courage from downing two beers and Virgil's chance on Mattie, decided to go and ask Artemis for a dance. The two remaining girls wished the boy luck as he disappeared into the crowd.

"And then there were four," Nikki exclaimed as she reappeared with Isabelle's beer.

The brunette thanked her friend and opened her drink, taking a large chug from the bottle. Her hazel eyes scanned around the Pit, trying to find any other familiar faces. A few feet away from Virgil and Mattie, she was able to spot Robbie who was successful at encouraging a dance with Artemis. The two looked like they were enjoying themselves as Robbie held the girl close to his own body, dancing chest-to-chest as she had her arms wrapped around his neck and his were around her waist. Besides the two couples, Isabelle didn't recognize many of the people down in the Pit; most of them were members of Dauntless she had never seen, or at least Isabelle didn't remember seeing them.

Looking to the side near the stage where the DJ's table stood, Isabelle could see a group of leaders as they drank and talked to one another, including Eric although he didn't look too social—brooding by himself a foot or two away from the other leaders, leaning against the stage for support. A woman with bright red hair and stitches on her forehead, Angelique, had left the group to dance with Ashur, one of the instructors for the Dauntless borns.

"It looks like the initiates aren't the only ones getting lucky tonight," Is replied with a smirk, taking a swill of beer.

Kathryn looked over to where Isabelle's eyes were locked. As she spotted her leader, Kathryn couldn't help but shout over the crowd, even though she knew Ashur couldn't have possibly heard the girl over the deafening music, no matter how loud she was. "Yeah Ashur! Get some!"

The three transfers erupted in a roar of laughter at their blonde friend's antics, also slightly tipsy now. How could one girl be so crazy, so loud, and have absolutely no such thing as a filter? It didn't matter really, as long as it didn't get her in trouble, Isabelle noted with a grin.

Warsan glanced over to the leaders again, a smile gracing his lips, "Look at Eric," he said, causing Isabelle to comply. The leader was chugging down another beer as the other leaders around him continued to talk and laugh; as he finished that beer, Isabelle could see that he was barely able to stand still, causing her to frown a bit. "How many drinks do you think he's had?"

"I don't know, but he doesn't look too good." She replied honestly, looking over at her friend with sullen eyes. After a moment, Isabelle lost sight of Eric as he disappeared into the crowd; _probably to get another drink_, Isabelle thought wistfully.

Mattie came back into view, pulling Virgil behind her by the hand as they approached her friends. The two were perspiring slightly, the sweat beads glistening on their faces, but they seemed in an ecstatic daze from the dancing and music. "Hey guys," Mattie said with a large grin on her pretty face.

"How's Virgil's dancing?" Nikki asked, giving the two a sly expression.

"He's fantastic—so much better than me." She laughed.

Virgil also chuckled, wrapping an arm around her waist, "She's not as bad as she thinks she is."

"I don't know about that," Mattei admitted, a blush appearing on her ivory cheeks, "we just came over to let you guys know that we're heading out. We're tired, so we're just going to go back to the living quarters and hang out a bit."

"Are you sure that's all you're gonna do?" Kathryn asked, winking at the two.

The blush on Mattie's cheeks deepened, now they were nearly red. Nikki slapped Kathryn on the arm, "None of that now!"

"I promise all we're going to do is talk, _mother_." Virgil joked, getting a snort out of Kathryn.

And with that, Mattie and Virgil left the Pit. Robbie and Artemis were no where to be seen, so the gang assumed they had disappeared to spend a little time by themselves, much like Mattie and her new beau. As Warsan, Nikki, and Kathryn got into a lively argument about who would be caught locking lips first—Mattie and Virgil or Robbie and Artemis—Isabelle found herself searching for Eric again.

The last time she saw him, he didn't look very well. But as she thought about it, she didn't know why she felt so concerned. He was a big boy would could take care of himself, so why did feel obligated to know that he was okay? He could be in the public bathroom puking his brains out, or back at his apartment sleeping the booze off, or he could be hooking up, so why did it irk Isabelle not knowing where he was? If she knew, at least she'd have some peace to mind, even if it was something she didn't like.

Kathryn had spotted the boy with short dreads as he sauntered through the dancing crowd, a beer in hand. She glanced over at Isabelle before nodding in his direction, "It looks like Is might be the next to leave the group."

The brunette felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Durro standing before her, his eyes glossy and his stance wobbly. "Hey Is-Isabelle," he said, slightly slurring his words.

"Durro," she smiled, but it quickly fell as the strong scent of alcohol surrounded him, invading her nostrils. As she took a closer look at the boy, she noticed that he couldn't help but sway as he tried to steady himself, trying not to tip over. "Are you alright?"

"Me?" he asked with a cheeky grin, "I couldn't be better."

"You don't look well, Durro."

"I said—I said I'm fine! I-I just came over to ask if you wanted to dance—with me? Do you wanna dance?"

It was then that Isabelle knew that Durro had way too much to drink. Politely, the girl shook her head, "I don't know how to dance to this kind of music."

"It's all good... I can teach you!"

"No, Durro, it's okay. Maybe next time."

"Next time?" He persisted, "what if there's not a next time?"

"There's always a next time."

Warsan stepped forward, pulling Isabelle to his side protectively, "Is isn't interested in dancing, Durro. Go find someone else."

At the flip of a switch Durro pushed Warsan harshly, causing the boy to stumble back, "I'm not fucking talking to you asshole!" _Oh yeah, _Isabelle thought as a pang of panic rang through her suddenly, _he was definitely drunk_. "I'm not fucking talking to you!" He then grabbed Isabelle by the arm and pulled her close, squeezing it tight enough that Isabelle knew he'd leave a bruise, "I said let's dance."

Isabelle jerked her arm hard enough to be able to get out of the boy's grip, "Get out of here, Durro, you're fucking drunk."

Durro huffed at the girl's comment and reached out to grab her again, but this time he was stopped by a large man who stepped in front of Isabelle suddenly. She glanced up, Isabelle was surprised to see Eric standing before her; she had to blink a few times to realize that he really was there and it wasn't the alcohol that was affecting her vision. Eric reached his left arm out behind him, instinctually sheathing the girl from any harm Durro might inflict.

"She said to get out of here, initiate." Eric's voice was dark and low, barely above a growl, "I suggest you listen to her." The leader didn't appear as inebriated as he was earlier that night, to which Isabelle was grateful.

"This is between me and the girl, not you muscle-head." Durro had to be drunk in order to speak to Eric the way he did.

"You better leave before I beat your skull into the cement, initiate." It was staggering how well Eric was taking Durro's shit, but the other initiates could hear the irritation and aggravation growing in his voice; by this time, the surrounding people had stopped their own conversation to watch as the Dauntless born had picked a fight with Eric—they were all just watching for the leader to knock the kid out.

Something in Durro's demeanor changed as his brown eyes turned dark with anger, "I said this was between me and the girl!"

The boy swung the beer bottle that was still in his hand, but Eric was able to grab his wrist before head butting the initiate, hitting Durro right in the nose with his forehead. The boy stumbled back, landing on his ass as he cradled his now throbbing head and bleeding nose. Eric turned to Warsan and Kathryn nodding over at the drunk boy. "Get him out of my sight, now!"

The two didn't hesitate as they rushed over to Durro's side, grabbing him by the arms and quickly dragging him away as he tried to squirm under their grasp, yelling and shouting, but mostly cussing at Eric and Isabelle—using a slew of profanities towards the girl. The rest of the people who had stopped to watch the spectacle went back to their conversations, not wanting to get on Eric's bad side if he caught them staring. Nikki had excused herself, running out of the Pit to find Mattie and tell her what had happened.

Eric turned around to see if Isabelle was alright, finding her watching him, her lips parted slightly. "You're bleeding," Isabelle said, her eyes fixated on the oozing blood that was dripping down the side of Eric's face.

The leader shook his head, avoiding her gaze as he wiped the blood with the back of his hand, "It's nothing… I've been injured worse."

"Let me clean it for you."

"I said it's nothing, you have other things to worry about."

"Just let me clean it before it gets infected, to say thank you for helping me out with Durro."

"You could've handled that yourself."

Isabelle raised a brow, glancing up into Eric's blue eyes with a slight tilt of her head, "Then why did you step in?"

Her question made Eric stop and think for a moment as his eyes bore into hers, the laser lights above flashing over the two as the blue, purple, and red streaks flickered intensely, illuminating Isabelle's delicate features. Why did he step in? He knew that she was perfectly capable to take out the boy; yeah he was of higher rank than her and one of the best fighters among the initiates, top in his group, but Durro was drunk and sloppy in his attack so she could've easily defended herself against him.

Eric clenched his jaw, reluctantly agreeing with Isabelle. He led the girl out of the Pit and away from the blaring music as he walked down a dark corridor, turning right into another hallway. He guided her into a part of the compound she had never ventured into before as they took a metal staircase up a few levels; it seemed that the compound was much larger than she thought it was with all of its secret passageways and rooms.

After a good tour through a few more corridors, Eric had finally steered Isabelle into a private bathroom—one used only by the leaders. When she stepped in, she couldn't help but squint as everything in the bathroom was white, giving it a pretentious appeal to it. It was rather large and cozy with a single stall, a long mirror against the wall above the sink, and two tall cabinets on either side of the sink.

"There's a retractable chair behind the cabinet where you'll find medical supplies," Eric said as he pointed to the nearest cabinet.

Isabelle nodded and reached behind the cabinet first, feeling the cold metal of the chair. She pulled it out and handing it over to Eric where he opened it up and locked it before taking a seat in front of the sink a few inches back. With him sitting quietly, Isabelle moved in front of the cabinet and pulled open the door, revealing the copious amount of medical supplies; most of it was simple things you'd find in anyone's home: hydrogen peroxide, cotton balls, band-aids, gauze, aspirin, and small paper cups.

The girl grabbed everything except for the gauze, thinking she wouldn't need it, and placed them on the sink behind her. She turned on the faucet and placed the cup underneath it, getting some cold water for Eric. She handed him the cup and offered him some aspirin. Silently, he opened his palm as the girl poured two into his hand. As she turned around, Eric popped the small tablets into his mouth before swallowing them with a drink of water. Isabelle reached behind her as Eric handed the cup back to the brunette. She poured the remanding water down the sink and disposed of the cup into the trash can.

Once that was done with, Isabelle took another paper cup and filled it about one-third of the way with hydrogen peroxide. She took a few cotton balls in her hand and turned to Eric, kneeling in front of him so that they were both nearly at the same level as the other. She took one of the cotton balls and removed the blood off his face, starting at the bottom of his chin and wiping upwards gently before disposing of it in the trash bin. Isabelle took another one, but this time she dipped a part of the cotton ball into the peroxide, wiping excess liquid on the inside of the cup. Tenderly, she began to clean the wound on his temple, moving the cotton ball in a circular motion. It stung slightly, but Eric didn't allow himself to flinch at her touch.

As she cleaned his small wound, Eric's eyes studied Isabelle's soft features. Her eyes were ardent as she watched her own fingers nimbly work to both disinfect the cut on Eric's head and to stop the bleeding. Her hazel eyes appeared more green underneath the fluorescent lighting above, unlike the dark brown they seemed to be when they were under the dim lighting in the Pit.

"You're surprisingly quite good at this," Eric finally said, his eyes never leaving Isabelle.

"Really?" She asked, taken back a bit, "I've never done this before, but my mother did this quite often so I must've learned it from her."

"You and your mother are from Erudite, so why did she clean wounds often?"

Isabelle was silent for a moment, debating if she wanted to tell Eric the truth about her family. She was a very private person, but being here alone with him, she didn't think he'd tell anyone. "My dad used to get in a lot of fights—he drank heavily and caused a bit trouble back home, so my mom had to clean up after his messes."

"Did he cause trouble often?"

Isabelle nodded, avoiding the leader's eyes, "yeah, when he got drunk he got really rowdy; it seemed like every other night he got into a fight."

"Sounds like you," Eric mused, a smirk appearing on his handsome face.

"Shut up," the girl mumbled, but her tone was dark, as if he struck a nerve which caused Eric to furrow his brows at the girl. Once his wound was clean, she grabbed a new cotton ball and applied pressure onto the wound, causing the leader to cringe slightly at the sudden force exerted onto his wound. Isabelle didn't apologize, to be honest she didn't even realize that she had applied more pressure as she continued to clean his cut.

"When you said he caused trouble back home, did you mean back at Erudite or in your own house?" Isabelle froze in place—she knew she should've just kept her mouth shut. But her silence was all Eric needed to answer his question. "So he used to hit you?"

Slowly, Isabelle nodded, still eluding Eric's gaze. "Sometimes," was all she was able to breath out. After a long pause Isabelle continued, "but my mom got the worst of it."

"It figures as much," Eric retorted with a quiet sigh.

Isabelle almost looked offended by his words as she furrowed her brows, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You tend to stick up for people and help them out—more so than other people in your situation; I just figured you liked to protect people for a reason."

"Yeah well, I couldn't protect my mom from my father's outbursts, so I thought whenever the moment presented itself I would help anyone who needed it, no matter what."

"Is that why you spent so much time at the Archives with her? Because your father couldn't hurt her there?"

Isabelle glanced up at Eric finally, narrowing her eyes at the leader as her lips parted in surprise. "How did you know that?"

Eric was silent for a moment, debating if he wanted to reveal such information to Isabelle or if he wanted to keep if from her for a little bit longer. He watched her quietly, blinking slowly but never turning his attention away from the girl before him. "Our mothers worked together at the Archives before I came to Dauntless for my initiation. Every time I came by to see her, I noticed you were never far—always with a book in hand."

And then it clicked in Isabelle's head—that's why Eric seemed so familiar to her. "You're Eric Lowenthall, Lotte and Sebastian's son."

Eric nodded slowly, his eyes still on Isabelle.

Isabelle took a moment to examine Eric's features. Eric Lowenthall, back when he was still an Erudite, had dark brown hair that hung just past his shoulders; he must've cut and dyed his hair upon initiation or shortly after it, Isabelle noted. With the addition of the tattoos, piercings, and being a few years older also made it harder for the girl to recognize him. Isabelle was used to seeing the Eric she knew with radically different features, so when she saw this Eric—the Dauntless leader—it flew completely over her head. They weren't friends back home, nothing even remotely close to it since he was two years older than her and he had left the Erudite compound before she could realize it, but she did _know_ of the boy.

"So this entire time you've known who I was and you didn't bother telling me, or at least decide to drop a hint?"

Eric shrugged nonchalantly, finally breaking eye contact as he smirked playfully at Isabelle. "I didn't know the _entire_ time; it wasn't until about two weeks after initiation started that I realized who you were. But I knew you were smart—that you'd figure it out eventually."

"You're an ass," Isabelle smiled, letting out a small laugh.

The two fell silent as the bleeding had finally stopped, so Isabelle removed the cotton ball from Eric's cut and thew it in the trash. She playfully asked if he wanted a band-aid, to which he told her to fuck off, eliciting a quiet chuckle from the girl. Still kneeling on the ground, Isabelle reached up and gently examined Eric's wound with her fingers, feeling for any bumps that might've risen while she performed care on the leader.

Without realizing it, Isabelle allowed her fingers to gently caress the side of Eric's face, dancing lightly over his cheekbones, mesmerized by his the softness of his skin underneath her fingertips. Maybe it was the lingering alcohol in her system that made her so brash, but she truly didn't know. Eric watched her intently, not protesting her light touch as it left a trail of warmth on his face, amazed by her. He was simply amazed by Isabelle. Almost as if spell-bound, unable to control herself, Isabelle cupped the leader's face and leaned in. Her lips were so close to Eric's that she swore she could already feel them upon hers, but then suddenly in an instant it was as if the spell on Isabelle was broken and she realized what she was about to do. She pulled back in horror, her eyes wide and her breathing labored, like a deer caught in headlights.

"I'm sorry," she whispered innocuously as she tried to scoot back a bit, "I'm sorry."

Eric didn't say anything as he leaned in, this time he was able to capture Isabelle in a passionate kiss. His kiss wasn't gentle or soft like the girl might've thought, but instead it was much more fervent and consuming, opening his mouth as he slid his tongue over her bottom lip. Surprised, but not taken back entirely, Isabelle parted her lips, allowing Eric to seize her mouth fervidly. The leader wrapped his strong arms around Isabelle's waist, pulling her up from the ground to straddle his hips. She gasped against his lips at the sudden closeness between the two of them, especially as the hem of her dress rose slightly, causing her to shiver in his arms, but Eric pulled her back in for another heated kiss.

After a moment, Eric broke the kiss; his breathing was labored slightly as he looked upon the girl with avid eyes, "you've been on my mind for the the past few weeks, do you know that? Ever since the incident with Avicus, you'd just keep popping into my mind; it's driving me crazy."

"You're drunk, Eric." Isabelle whispered, nearly against his lips.

"I'm not," he whispered breathlessly, placing a few kisses on Isabelle's neck, trailing up to her jawline as he nibbled on the skin seductively. Isabelle couldn't suppress the whimper that escaped her lips at the sensation of his teeth against her flesh.

Enjoying the sound she made, Eric grabbed a hold of Isabelle's hips, pressing her against him; the girl closed her eyes as she bit down on her lower lip, careful of her lip piercing, "You had a lot to drink tonight; I saw you."

"That's why I left the Pit. I went outside for some fresh air, but I'm fine now. Why—are you concerned about my consent?" He asked, arching a brow playfully.

"I just didn't want to do anything you'd regret in the morning—I am still an initiate after all."

"That's very considerate of you," he whispered against her neck, resuming the esurient bites on her soft skin.

But Isabelle resisted, shaking her head her head as she tried to pry away from his enticing antics, "I should be heading back to my living quarters anyway. It's late and I have to train tomorrow."

"I can excuse you."

"Eric," her tone was inure, trying to get the leader to understand what she wanted as she slowly eased her way off of Eric. Reluctantly, he allowed the girl escape from his arms as she stood up and straightened out her dress before she started to put the medical supplies away in the cabinet. Eric recollected himself and stood as well, closing the retractable chair. He handed it back to Isabelle before she slid it back behind the cabinet where it belonged.

The duo left the private bathroom, leaving behind their passionate rendezvous as Isabelle shut the door behind her. Eric then led the girl back to her living quarters, their walk was silent but Isabelle didn't mind; words would only ruin the moment. Once Isabelle knew where she was, she offered to walk back to the living quarters alone, not wanted to raise any suspicions—especially since they left the Pit together after Eric had slugged Durro. The blond agreed and left without another word. Normally, Isabelle would have thought it rude, but she knew he didn't want to risk anyone seeing them together this late at night.

In a radiant daze, Isabelle wandered back to the living quarters a few minutes after parting from Eric. Quietly she slipped into the bathroom and washed her face and brushed her teeth before going to her cot where she peeled off her dress. She slid on her black pajama pants and tank top before slipping underneath the covers of her bed, resting her head gently on the pillow. It didn't take long before sleep crept over the girl, sending her into a peaceful slumber.


	12. Chapter 11

The leaders had declared early morning training to be cancelled, allowing the initiates to recollect themselves after the previous night's festivities, but it would resume after breakfast at 9 A.M. It was a good thing too, seeing that most of the initiates were dealing with their first hangover, groaning as they took their seats in the dining hall for breakfast. Coffee was the choice of drink that morning as those affected by last night's celebration were trying to rid of migraines and other symptoms they were dreadfully dealing with.

Kathryn was the worst of Isabelle's crew, not even bothering coming to breakfast, hoping that she could sleep off the hangover. Robbie wasn't as bad as Is had thought he'd be, but he needed a few cups of coffee to regain his personality in order to do so. Warsan and Nikki were doing alright, although every once in a while they complained of a surge of pain in their head. Isabelle just needed a cup herself to feel a bit better; Mattie, on the other hand, was as perky as normal since she didn't have a sip of alcohol the other night.

Isabelle's head swam with the images with her rendezvous with Eric the night before, but she was unsure what to make of it. Isabelle was overwhelmed by her own boldness, the brashness she had gained since coming to Dauntless. She thought she was an annoyance to the leader, often the subject to his snarky remarks and his continuous leering. Thinking back on everything, she must've mistook their banters and disdain for each other for some kind of sexual tension, but both were at fault. Isabelle couldn't lie to herself and say she didn't feel the same towards Eric, it was always there, those feelings, but she tried to hide them—burying them deep down inside. Just the mere thought of it made Isabelle's cheeks burn slightly as she tried to conceal the smile that threatened to appear on her lips.

But what was it that they had—Isabelle and Eric? Was is a one-time kind of deal, or would it blossom into something else—something Isabelle had never experienced before? She shook off the thought. The end of the first stage was almost over and she couldn't risk losing her place on the scoreboard because she was now feeling butterflies in her stomach over Eric. If anything was to come out of whatever they had, it wasn't nearly as important as her training. Initiation was over in four weeks time. It could wait until then.

"How was hanging out with Virgil last night, Mattie?" Isabelle asked, taking a sip of coffee. She needed to get her mind off of Eric.

The girl couldn't help but smile brightly, her green eyes glistening with joy. "I know I haven't known him long, but I really, really like him."

"What did you guys talk about?"

"A lot of things... our old lives, our friends, how training is going… just little things. He's really sweet though, he really is."

Nikki turned to Warsan, nudging him a bit, "You two are friends, so you can vouch for him. Is Virgil worthy enough for Mattie?"

"If anyone is interested in Mattie, I'm glad it's Virgil." And that's all Warsan had to say about the matter, stuffing his face with muffins to absorb any remaining traces alcohol in his system.

Kathryn had finally made her appearance, slumping over to the table as she laid her head on her arms, resting on the table.

"You look good," Warsan jested, causing the rest of the gang to laugh.

"Shut up," she was barely able to mumble as she tried to ignore the laughing and giggling from her friends.

"Maybe next time you shouldn't drink so much," Robbie scolded playfully but was met with a harsh smack on the arm from his sister.

"I said shut up," she repeated groggily.

The group fell silent as a figure approached their table, but Isabelle hardly took notice since she was focusing on eating her meal. It wasn't until Robbie had nudged the girl with his elbow, causing her to look up at the blond. He nodded over to her other side. Isabelle turned her head to see the boy with short brown dreads standing at her side of the table. He stood quietly, his brown eyes watching Isabelle patiently, filled with sorrow and regret. She noticed that the skin around Durro's nose had turned a dark purplish-blue from Eric's self-defense.

She turned away from the boy and took another sip of her coffee. "What do you want, Durro?" Her tone was anything but pleasant as she refused to look at him. Isabelle didn't plan on giving him the power in this situation.

He looked down at his feet and licked his lips, trying to find the right words. "I just wanted to apologize for last night."

"I'm listening," she spat, still refusing to look at the boy.

Durro paused, a little taken back that she wouldn't even glance his way, feeling the extent of her distaste towards him, "I had a lot to drink last night, as most of us did, but that doesn't excuse the way I talked to you—or grabbed you. I want us to be friends, I really do. I'm sorry, Is. I'll do whatever it takes to make things right, I promise."

Isabelle thought for a moment, letting his words register in her mind. They boy did seem sincere in his apology as his voice was low, shaking a bit as if he were to start crying at any moment, and he kept his eyes on the girl. After a moment, Isabelle nodded. "I accept your apology, Durro." A small smile spread on his lips, but fell as the girl turned to look at him, her eyes dark with austere, "Just make sure it never fucking happens again."

The boy's eyes widened at Isabelle's stern response, but he nodded fervently before slowly walking away back to his table to sit with Artemis and Nicole. Isabelle turned back to her own table, all eyes on her. She ignored them though; she didn't need to feel guilt about being cruel to the Dauntless born, not after he was so aggressive with her the night before.

But her friends weren't looking at her, but instead slightly past her as the blond leader stood behind her quietly, catching Isabelle's last remark towards the brown-haired boy.

"You handled that pretty well," he said causing the girl to jump slightly, unaware of his presence.

"Sir," Isabelle responded as she stood and turned to face the leader, her eyes on him intently.

Eric stood stoically, but kept his eyes on the initiate."Four and I had just returned from reviewing yesterday's footage of your activity."

The brunette furrowed her brows, confused by his words, "Sir?"

"We have CCTV cameras set up in all the hallways and public areas of the compound to ensure security," he said as he pointed up in the corner of the room. Isabelle looked in that direction to see a small black orb that hung from the ceiling. She had always wondered what those were, but it didn't peak her curiosity enough for her to ask about it. "We checked the video feed from the other day to see what you initiates did while we were gone. Needless to say, Four and I were impressed that you all decided to train instead of sleep in or fool around like we thought you would, being initiates and all."

"Well, a few Dauntless born and I thought it would be a waste of a day if we didn't do anything, so we arranged to train together, sir."

He nodded, "Your leadership skills has been noticed." Eric paused for a moment before he smirked, but it gave Isabelle dysphoria instead of enticing positive feelings from the girl, "Although, we also happen to notice that one of your _friends_ was absent from training."

The girl nearly cringed at his choice of words as he referred to Avicus, closing her eyes momentarily at his mentioning, "He wasn't feeling very well, so I thought since we weren't being evaluated on our training that it'd be okay for him to stay in."

"Well, you thought wrong. We _will_ evaluate the video and either dock or add points to your scores. In the meantime, you will lose points for abusing your power…and for _lying_ to me," Isabelle looked away from the leader, feeling a small pinch of guilt, "but not as many as you earned for obeying orders and keeping everyone in line while we were away," Eric gave a curt nod as he started to back away, "good job."

Isabelle nodded back in response, a small smile gracing her lips as she turned back to her table. When she sat down, she was greeted with wide eyes and slack-jawed friends. Nikki looked at her friend in amazement, "I thought for sure he'd rip you to shreds, but instead you get rewarded with points. Unbelievable."

"I don't think I've ever seen him so pleased," Warsan added with an arched brow.

"Enjoy the moment," Isabelle said, popping a piece of muffin into her mouth with a playfully snarky grin "because I highly doubt he'll ever be this pleased again."

* * *

><p><em>1. Robbie 2. <em>_Alexandria 3. Kathryn 4. Virgil__ 5. __Nicole__ 6. __Mattie_

_7. __Isabelle__ 8. __Durro__ 9. __Nikki__ 10. __Warsan __11. __Artemis __12. __JD__ 13. Vikki_

_14. Flot 15. __Aldo __16. __Mark__ 17. M__organ__ 18. __Maxine __19. Sido_

_20. __Aliyah__ 21. Axel 22. __Jay__ 23. Jordan 24. __Avicus__ 25. Danielle_

_26. Abigail 27. Shelby__** 28. Anne 29. Conner 30. Levy 31. Bruce 32. Mia**_

Isabelle stood in front of the scoreboard, letting her eyes roam over the large, electronic screen that had the updated ranks of the initiates; Durro had been docked a serious amount of points for his behavior at the Pit. Avicus had been docked points for not participating in the yesterday's training, even though that was entirely Isabelle's fault, but she didn't feel nearly as bad as she made herself out to be, especially in front of Eric.

As her eyes fell upon her own name, in the seventh spot on the list, the brunette couldn't help but smile in pride. Just six in-a-half weeks ago she was so much lower on the board, nearly flunking out of the faction. But now, now she was so close to the top of the list—almost in the top five. She couldn't be prouder of herself because she though she deserved it. She had gone through hell, dealing with all kinds of abuse from the intructors—mostly Eric—and initiates, as well as continuously being underestimated, and enduring rigorous workout sessions that usually ended in gaining at least three bruises. Nodding to herself, Isabelle continued to smile; yes, she deserved to be recognized for her achievements.

"We're going to do something a little different today," Four's voice boomed, causing Isabelle to snap out of her train of thought. She turned to see both he and Eric standing in the ring, so the group of transfers made their way over towards the instructors, eager to learn what they had to say.

Eric took a step forward with his hands behind his back, his cold blue eyes scanning the crowd of initiates that stood before him. "Four and I have decided to test you on your leadership skills, along with your ability to work together amongst yourselves. Being a soldier here at Dauntless isn't necessarily a one-man team, but instead a majority of the time you will have to depend on another person with your life. It doesn't matter if you are sworn enemies or have best friends since childhood, when you're out there on a mission the person standing next to you is your brother in arms and you are held responsible for every single person in your team—leader or not."

Four agreed. "Earlier this morning we have chosen four captains who will pick another three initiates to be in their team. We will then have four teams of four, two teams competing against each other in a demonstration of how well the team communicates and collaborates under their appointed leader. In the back room of the warehouse we have assembled a labyrinth that two teams will enter at opposite ends. One member from each team will be taken 'hostage' and the objective of the test is to see which team successfully relocates their missing teammate and brings them back to base. A team can automatically lose if the entire team is killed off or their missing teammate is killed by a member of the opposing team. You will be issued specialized guns for this exercise; they don't have real bullets, but the ammunition in them stimulates the pain of a bullet wound, so be cautious." Four glanced over at Eric to announce the captains of the game.

"Isabelle, Mattie, Warsan, and Nikki—step forward" the four initiates did as they were told while Eric and Four exchanged satisfied looks at each other; the four friends didn't look as pleased as their instructors did, "you are the team captains."

Isabelle closed her eyes to prevent herself from rolling her eyes at Eric and Four's choices for team captains. She knew sooner or later that the leaders would pit the four friends against each other, but to be honest Isabelle thought they'd make them fight each other in the ring, so this was an amusing surprise.

"Before I let you four choose, there's one more rule: you cannot pick all higher-ranking initiates as there has to be diversity amongst each team—no objections. So Isabelle, choose another two initiates for your team."

The girl tilted her head slightly as she shifted her narrowed her eyes suspiciously between the duo, "I thought each team consisted of _four _members, mine will only have _three _if I pick two more."

"That's because Avicus is automatically on your team," Eric retorted as a devilish expression adorned his face, "so pick two more people or I'll pick them for you."

Isabelle scoffed, looking around at the remaining initiates, evaluating them quickly in her head. "I choose Virgil and Aliyah."

"Mattie, choose."

"I want JD, Shelby, and Jay."

"Warsan."

"I'll pick Sido, Morgan, and Anne."

"So that leaves Nikki with Levy, Conner, and Mia," Eric took a moment to snicker under his breath, glancing over at Four as he tried to hide his mirth, "that's too bad."

Four was much better had hiding his amusement for the situation, not nearly as expressive as his partner. "Leaders come over and we'll see who goes against who; teams group-up and wait for further instructions."

Isabelle and her friends ambled over to the instructors and jumped into the ring where Eric and Four were mumbling amongst themselves while Four seemed to be fidgeting with something in his hands. After a moment, he turned to the initiates with his fist out. Grasped in his palm were four matches with the top-side sticking out. "Each of you will pick one. The ends of each match will either be blue or red, so the two people with the blue end will go against each other as will the two with the red matches."

Nikki was the first to take a match. It was red. Mattie stepped forward and picked out a blue-ended match. Warsan was next and pulled out a red match, leaving Isabelle to face off with Mattie in the labyrinth.

"Mattie and Warsan," Four continued looking at the two, "when I flip this coin, one of you call it. Whoever calls it right will choose which teams go first. Ready?"

The two initiates nodded, their eyes glued on the coin in Four's hand. In the blink of an eye, the coin was twirling in the air above their heads and Mattie was the first to call out, "heads!"

Four caught the coin effortless and flipped it onto the back of his hand, covering it with the other. Slowly, he removed his hand and peered down as did the initiates. Eric didn't care to know, standing quietly at Four's side. "It's tails," the instructor said, glancing over to the dark-skinned boy. "Alright Warsan, who goes in?"

The boy smirked, leering over at Mattie and Isabelle, "Ladies first."


End file.
